On Gratitude

If we do not embrace those good things offered to us, why should we expect to receive greater gifts? Think of it: if you daily gave of yourself to someone, and received not a word of thanks, would you be disposed to giving greater gifts? And if your beneficiary reflects upon your gifts of the past year, and can only speak in expectation of more extravagant gifts in the coming year, how eager would you be to fulfill these expectations? Very little, I suspect.

At the start of this year, I was surrounded by new acquaintances, whose consensus seemed to be, "Good Riddance to 2008, but goshdarnit, '09 is shaping up to be a pretty good year." In this, I see only disappointment. It seems a simple truth: you cannot curse the past and hope for blessing in the future. To curse the past is to deny God's work; to hope in the future is to affirm it.


Having said these things, I feel I must beg your grace. I don't know what lies in your past. Some seem to have more to be thankful for; others seem to have greater cause to complain. For reasons known only to God, I have been given a life filled with comfort and relative peace. But this I do know: I have found renewed peace in facing those few challenges I have been dealt, and thanking God even for them. In my experience, it is better to live problem-to-problem, challenge-to-challenge, thanking God for each; than to live pleasure-to-pleasure, smile-to-smile, looking and grasping for the next. For hope is not found in circumstances, nor in objects. These rarely last beyond a moment, much less beyond a lifetime. Hope is found only in that unfathomable Source; He who giveth and taketh away. In all things, blessed be the Name of the Lord.