About Gratitude

                                                                                   

"For although they knew God, They neither glorified him as God           nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.”

^{Romans 1:21}

  From beginning to end, and for a variety of reasons, the scriptures exhort us to develop a sense of gratitude.  It is worth stating that gratitude is much more than an emotion. It is a foundational disposition or orientation towards reality. And without it, the above text reveals, we cannot perceive reality properly. We are hardwired for gratitude and we simply cannot  reason or function properly without it.  Personally, I am grateful for the season of Thanksgiving in which I have had the opportunity to express thanksgiving and I know the One to Whom I am to express it. 

I would like you to consider an excerpt from an article from the Harvard Mental Health Letter, entitled “In Praise of Gratitude” ( November, 2011) which emphatically, although perhaps unintentionally, drives home the resonance between the biblical worldview and empirical research in the area of “ Human Wellness”.

The word gratitude is derived from the Latin word gratia, which means grace, graciousness, or gratefulness (depending on the context). In some ways gratitude encompasses all of these meanings. Gratitude is a thankful appreciation for what an individual receives, whether tangible or intangible. With gratitude, people acknowledge the goodness in their lives. In the process, people usually recognize that the source of that goodness lies at least partially outside themselves. As a result, gratitude also helps people connect to something larger than themselves as individuals — whether to other people, nature, or a higher power.

In positive psychology research, gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness. Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships.

People feel and express gratitude in multiple ways. They can apply it to the past (retrieving positive memories and being thankful for elements of childhood or past blessings), the present (not taking good fortune for granted as it comes), and the future (maintaining a hopeful and optimistic attitude). Regardless of the inherent or current level of someone's gratitude, it's a quality that individuals can successfully cultivate further.

The results of gratitude studies reinforce what is intuitively obvious.  The middle paragraph carefully summarizes studies done by scholars such as Dr. Robert Emmons at the University of California at Davis.  And the final sentence of the quote is telling.  We are able to successfully cultivate gratitude further. We have choices that affect our sense of gratitude which in turn affect our happiness.

Why not consider making a list or starting a gratitude journal. Look for things for which to be grateful.  Express gratitude. Mull the list over in your minds. In fact, we all know what it is like to fixate on perceived wrongs or hurts, complete with endless rehearsals.  Why not employ the same mental apparatus for the good. Indeed, Dr. Emmons states as a conclusion of his research that gratitude is able to displace negative thought and feeling. And I know from experience that if we are not passive about it and actively look for “reasons for gratitude”, it certainly does.