An odd problem I often notice in myself, is when I’m in the act of acquiring / buying / upgrading my stuff, I’m generally less grateful for what I already have. Consumerism is based, in part, on the idea that what I currently have before me is no longer enough. Oh don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing innately wrong with acquiring and owning nice things. However, it is seductively easy in our culture to be fixated on forever having more. Can anybody relate?  So as an experiment on my Sabbath days off sometimes, I try to get thru the day without purchasing anything, to fast from getting, and instead notice the people & beauty & Nature that surrounds me.

It’s ongoing work for me! How is it for you?

So I’m taking a look at the spiritual practice of gratitude in this blog post. Gratitude, someone defined, is the act of feeling and communicating appreciation for the people, circumstances and material possessions in our lives. It allows us to cherish this present moment, aware of God, in ways that make us feel in abundance rather than deprived. Personally, the times I go there is when I allow a couple of things to happen –

• I try to be clear that God is the source of my life;
• I guard myself from being in a hurry.

I’ve come to believe that cultivating gratitude is the work of seeking spiritual health, and not just good mental health. Practiced as a spiritual discipline, gratitude realigns us to the Giver and increases how we notice God’s activity in our lives. How? Here’s a theological sequence that is paramount to understanding this: gratitude begets humility, which begets God’s grace.

So we don’t simply come into gratitude so much as we cultivate gratitude. In addition to practicing regular times of stillness in God’s presence, & questioning our impulse to buy our way to fullness, here are three ideas self-help guru Deepak Chopra offers that I agree with –

• Keep a Gratitude Journal: Regularly write on what brings deep peace and a sense of God into your life. (Be on the lookout in worship October 7^th when we’ll hand out journals to those who want one).
• Write a Thank-you Letter: Give the gift of the hand-written note to someone who has had an impact on your life.
• Take a Gratitude Walk: As you walk, offer thanks for the loving relationships, material comforts, the body that allows you to experience the world (…& don’t buy anything along the way).

(see more from Chopra at https://spiritualityhealth.com/articles/2012/11/20/3-essential-practices-gratitude)

The great preacher’s preacher, Fred Craddock, tells how the people he’s noticed who work to embody true gratitude at a given moment seem to have no room left for hate or envy or prejudice right then. I think he is right, regardless of how fleeting that moment may be.

So, I would like to invite you to all the Sundays of October at Central. We’ll build on the ways gratitude can flower in our personal lives and in the Common Good of society. The series will frame our stewardship campaign, taking gratitude to a more focused level, in ways that allow us to underwrite and champion our ministry going forward.

I would also like to know how you experience gratitude in your own life and family and community. Share your ideas & post below for how you cultivate gratitude.

I leave you with a “thanksgiving prayer” that can be uttered at any time of the year. This comes from a fine book by Diana Butler Bass, “Grateful”, which is inspiring our October message series.

Cultivating Gratitude,

Chris

 

THANKSGIVING PRAYER

God, there are days we do not feel grateful. When we are anxious or angry.

When we are alone.

When we do not understand what is happening in the world, or with our neighbors.

We struggle to feel grateful

But this Thanksgiving (or any day), we choose gratitude.

We choose to accept life as a gift from you, from the unfolding work of all Creation. We choose to be grateful for the earth from which our food comes; for the water that gives life; and for the air we all breathe.

We make the choice to see our ancestors, those who came before us, and their stories, as a continuing gift of wisdom for us today. We choose to see our families and friends with new eyes, appreciating them for who they are, and be thankful for our homes whether humble or grand.

We will be grateful for our neighbors, no matter how they voted or how much we feel hurt by them.

We choose to see the whole planet as our shared commons, the public stage of the future of humankind and Creation.

God, this Thanksgiving (or any day), we do not give thanks.

We choose it.

And we will make thanks, with strong hands and courageous hearts. When we see your sacred generosity, we become aware that we live in an infinite circle of gratitude. That we all are guests at a hospitable table around which gifts are passed and received.

We will not let anything opposed to love take over this table. Instead, we choose to see Grace, free and unmerited love, the giftedness of life everywhere, as the tender web of all Creation. In this choosing, and in the making, we will pass gratitude onto the world.

Thus, with You, and will all those gathered here, we pledge to make thanks. And we ask You to strengthen us in this resolve. Here, now, and into the future. Around this table.

Around the table of our nation.

Around the table of the earth.

Amen.