Article November 25, 1985 Issue

Gratitude: a "powerful camera obscura"

C. ALINDA LEVINSON

When thinking about gratitude, one often views it as simply the idea of expressing thanks for something. Hearts are grateful, and there is a natural overflow of appreciation for whatever was received. With gratitude, as with other facets of our experience, we can move from a general view of the idea to a deeper comprehension of it; we can grow in our understanding of the import and expanse of this quality. In fact, as we grasp its extent more fully, we can feel ourselves growing closer to God.

We can sometimes see our progress toward a purer concept of gratitude by looking at the increasing spiritual content of what we are grateful for in our own lives. As a child in the third grade, I rejoiced in a trip our family took to a place we'd never visited before; later I was grateful for an experience of true friendship; then the realization began to grow that God, the Giver of all good, is above the gift, and my concept of gratitude expanded still further. When we are conscious of God as the Giver, even the smallest experience of good takes on tremendous significance. Thought is moving from the gift to the Giver.

"What is gratitude," comments Mrs. Eddy, "but a powerful camera obscura, a thing focusing light where love, memory, and all within the human heart is present to manifest light."^{The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 164.} Gratitude, then, acting as a "camera obscura, a thing focusing light," might be thought of as gathering the light of truth from its ultimate source, God, and bringing it into focus in consciousness; then this light can be manifested in thought, word, and deed.

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