FROM THE EDITORS November 19, 2007 Issue

GRATITUDE

THIS THURSDAY, people in the United States will celebrate—complete with traditional turkey and cranberry feasting—the holiday known as Thanksgiving Day. And the United States is by no means the only country to recognize a national day of thanks; many nations and cultures celebrate days of thanksgiving and traditional harvest festivals, some dating back centuries.

Expressing gratitude to God has deep, strong roots around the world. There's something unmistakably wonderful about gratitude. Anyone who has felt gratitude knows its sterling, transforming power. Gratitude heals. Many contributors to the Sentinel have explained how counting their blessings and identifying even the smallest evidence of good in their lives have pulled them out of the depths.

Speaking about gratitude, Mary Baker Eddy wrote this: "Are we really grateful for the good already received? Then we shall avail ourselves of the blessings we have, and thus be fitted to receive more" (p. 3). This statement appears in the first chapter of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, titled "Prayer," and points to the value Christian Science places on recognizing past good in order to find present inspiration and healing.

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