Gratitude and thankfulness

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
    for his steadfast love endures forever! (Ps 107:1)

In a recent news clip about children’s art being displayed in a prestigious art gallery, one child was asked how she felt about seeing her picture hanging besides works by world-famous artists. Her unsmiling response was “It shows that I’ve worked hard and that if you really want to, you can achieve anything.”

In a world which emphasises achievement through hard work, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that we must have earned what comes to us. We feel frustrated if our work is not rewarded and deprived if what we have is taken away.

Gratitude isn’t something hardwired into human beings. It requires a realisation that most of what we have is totally undeserved. We did nothing (good or bad) to deserve the talents we were born with, the family we belong to, the country we live in. We did nothing to deserve being born at all. Everything is a gift.

Psychologists have begun to emphasise the importance of gratitude to our mental well being. Taking time each day to notice the things we have to be grateful for helps to protect us against stress, improves our relationships with others and can be a potent antidote to depression.

Gratitude, looked at in this way, is primarily an inner experience. It may lead to outward expressions of thanks, but it focuses on the good that comes to us. It says “I am blessed”.

Thankfulness goes beyond that to recognising the goodness of the one from whom undeserved favour comes. It says “Thank you for blessing me.” This is more than just being polite. Whether it’s thanking our spouse for some small kindness or thanking God for the beauty of a sunrise, heartfelt thanks-giving requires humility. It takes the emphasis off ourselves as the receiver and places it on the giver.