Joan Chittister on "Gratitude:"
Gratitude is not only the posture of praise but it is also the basic element of real belief in God.When we bow our heads in gratitude, we acknowledge that the works of God are good. We recognize that we cannot, of ourselves, save ourselves. We proclaim that our existence and all its goods come not from our own devices but are part of the works of God. Gratitude is the alleluia to existence, the praise that thunders through the universe as tribute to the ongoing presence of God with us even now.
Thank you for the new day.
Thank you for this work.
Thank you for this family.
Thank you for our daily bread.
Thank you for this storm and the moisture it brings to a parched earth.
Thank you for the corrections that bring me to growth.
Thank you for the bank of crown vetch that brings color to the hillside.
Thank you for pets that bind us to nature.
Thank you for the necessities that keep me aware of your bounty in my life.
Without doubt, unstinting gratitude saves us from the sense of self-sufficiency that leads to forgetfulness of God. Let us learn to come to prayer with an alleluia heart—“Praise to you, O God. Let all creation sing your praise.”
– from The Breath of the Soul: Reflections on Prayer by Joan Chittister (Twenty-Third Publications)
2 comments:
Here in the UK we don't celebrate Thanksgiving but many of us today are very thankful for the steps forward we may see from the Pilling Report : http://www.churchofengland.org/media-centre/news/2013/11/pilling-report-published.aspx
God bless you and your ministry, Susan.
I must confess that I am somewhat angry about what has happened to Thanksgiving. Understand that I was born and raised in Massachusetts, about 20 miles outside of Boston. Thanksgiving was a major holiday when I grew up. People actually had the concept that it was worthwhile to consider and on a given day stop all our regular business, get together with as much of our families as we could gather and join together to be thankful for what blessings we had received.
Now it's thrown away. It's the kickoff for the retail industry's orgy of buying and selling. Nobody says anything about thankfulness or gratitude in the weeks after Halloween leading up to it. All that is on the news at that time is speculation about what the Christmas selling season will do for retailers and the economy.
Target ran a commercial with a small choir urging a woman in her kitchen on Thanksgiving Day to stop cleaning up, abandon her guests and rush out of the house to go shopping. I don't give a damn whether or not Target clerks wish me "Happy Holidays" or "Merry Christmas", but I'm going to use a word I rarely use; I'm offended, and I'm going to do my best to avoid going into a Target store ever again.
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