Article October 21, 1911 Issue

GRATITUDE

REV. WILLIAM P. MC KENZIE

When a man has developed a sense of gratitude, he declares himself to be among the blessed ; for the fundamental fact in gratitude is not only that a man has blessing, but that he knows he has. This knowing and valuing of good puts one in the direct line for accession to greater good, for the law of gratitude or appreciation was clearly stated by the Master : "Whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance."

If the grateful mind is hospitable to blessing and makes happiness its guest, the complaining mind on the contrary fails to value the good it might enjoy, and so loses capacity to enjoy it. The law of ingratitude is always, "Whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have." Appreciation of the good we have tends to make permanent. Grateful recollection of blessings which we have had becomes a factor in making us ready to receive other blessings. So, whether we have gladness in possession or joy in memory, it is well to be grateful.

The most satisfactory reward that can come to a statesman, hero, or other minister to mankind, is the loving gratitude of those he has saved and served. By the time a man is great enough for genuine service, he has outgrown desire for the ordinary sordid rewards of service. That which is material and temporal cannot satisfy his heart. He longs for what is spiritual and real, and so, if he can win for mankind such conditions as will make men love him for his labor and be grateful for his work, even though he seem to lose his own life in the toil, he is yet satisfied.

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