gratitude
“Now on the way to Jerusalem, Jesus was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. As he was entering a village, ten men with leprosy met him. They stood at a distance, raised their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” When he saw them he said, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went along, they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He fell with his face to the ground at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. (Now he was a Samaritan.) Then Jesus said, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to turn back and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to the man, “Get up and go your way. Your faith has made you well.”
Luke 17:11-19
I was thinking its about time I write a blog that is upbeat; long over do wouldn’t you say. I was reading the above passage in Luke and thought “Thankfulness,” can’t get much more upbeat than that. I found some quotes on being thankful. I like to start with a good quote to kick start my writing. I found this Dietrich Bonhoeffer quote about thankfulness.
“It is only with gratitude that life becomes rich.”
Perfect, I want a rich life. He uses the the word gratitude. Gratitude and thankfulness mean the same thing right? Well, no they don’t.
“Thankful: conscious of benefit received
Grateful: appreciative of benefits received”
Merriam-Webster
Being thankful is an acknowledgment of a received gift, a response. The definition of grateful implies an understanding of gifts (plural) received over time and hints at action. By action I mean a change in the receiver of the gifts as a result of their appreciation of the giver of the gifts. Appreciation implies relationship and position or perhaps posture would be a better word. I thought this would be simple. Oh well, let’s get another quote. I know a go to quote in the Bible
“ in everything give thanks. For this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
1Thessalonians 5:18
In everything give thanks. Really, in everything? When I’m going through a tough patch this passage is encouraging. But, giving thanks to God for the wrongs done to me? Give thanks for calamities brought upon my children and friends? Give thanks for hurts and insults received from those who love you and whom you love?
The wrongs I’ve done to others out number those done to me. I can be thankful for the grace given me, that works, I can be grateful. The circumstances of my life for the most part have been stable. If I had been a victim of abusive parents, suffered the tragic loss of a child or witnessed the brutality of war erase my family, my history and my world through ethnic cleansing, would I give thanks? No, I wouldn’t, I couldn’t. I might submit to God’s providence but I would fall into despair. Who could blame me?
I need some guidance, another quote. This time from Henri Nouwen.
“Gratitude goes beyond the 'mine' and 'thine' and claims the truth that all of life is a pure gift. In the past I always thought of gratitude as a spontaneous response to the awareness of gifts received, but now I realize that gratitude can also be lived as a discipline. The discipline of gratitude is the explicit effort to acknowledge that all I am and have is given to me as a gift of love, a gift to be celebrated with joy.”
To live a life defined by gratitude requires discipline, the discipline of gratitude. My life is not defined by gratitude, sporadic thankfulness yes, but not gratitude. Nouwen uses the words “all of life is a pure gift.” Do I see all life, life outside my own, as a pure gift? I agree with the proposition, but so what! I don’t know what a life of gratitude looks like, let alone celebrate it with joy. Gratitude is a discipline I need to cultivate and begin to create a vision of life founded in gratitude.
The three drawings are from a series of five drawings I did depicting the movement from despair to jubilee. Let’s substitute gratitude for jubilee.