Article May 4, 1992 Issue

How gratitude can help

Being thankful for what our creator has done for us can give us the healing perspective we need.

Cyril Barber

When I had to take on household responsibilities that my wife used to attend to, what I most objected to were routine jobs of no interest to me—making up the bed, washing dishes, going around the rooms with a mop or duster.

One morning as I was hauling blankets and sheets with a perverse will of their own into some sort of proper order, I was suddenly faced with the fact that I was letting ugly self-pity rule me and darken my days. I did then what I ought to have done earlier. I prayed.

As a result, I set out to form a new habit in relation to my new duties: being grateful to God. No, I didn't rouse myself to give God hearty thanks for dull, uninteresting jobs! Instead, I began thanking Him for the good qualities and faculties that enabled me to do them. I thanked Him, while I was actually on any job, for health, strength, energy; for freedom of movement; for intelligence; for the ability to be patient and to persevere.

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