Living a life of gratitude
“I’m grateful for …” How might you finish that sentence? More important, how would you show your gratitude for the customized end to that sentence?
Suppose a guest at a dinner party expressed their gratitude for the host’s manners. If that same person then kept their elbows on the table, ate with their hands and wiped them off on their shirt, and finished off the meal with a burp, do you think that individual’s gratitude is genuine? Of course not! The person did not support their “gratitude” with a sincere effort to demonstrate the principles behind what they claimed to appreciate.
When we say we are grateful for something, we must not follow that kind of poor example.
We Christians often express our deepest gratitude for the perfect example given to us by Christ Jesus. Yet Mary Baker Eddy writes in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, “To keep the commandments of our Master and follow his example, is our proper debt to him and the only worthy evidence of our gratitude for all that he has done” (p. 4 ). The standard, then, is that if we are to count ourselves as followers, ones who love Christ—or even if we are just to say “I’m grateful for Christ Jesus”—then we must follow his teachings.
Mary Baker Eddy also writes of what is necessary to be a follower of Jesus: “Hear these imperative commands: ‘Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect!’ ‘Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature!’ ‘Heal the sick!’ ” (Science and Health, p. 37 ). Within these hard-hitting statements there is also the beautiful implication that we are capable of accomplishing them! Jesus gave a comforting and humbling reminder as to why this is so when he said, “I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me” (John 5:30 ). In spite of all that Jesus did, he stated plainly that without the Father, God, he was capable of nothing. His works came about not from seeking his own will but from making himself a tool for the work of God.
Humility and gratitude naturally involve the willingness to put aside a finite sense of ego, intellect, and history. When sacrificing our limited perception of identity for the unlimited reality of being we do not lose anything—we only gain! This is helpful to remember when we are faced with temptations to be overcome. That is what Jesus constantly did. He was often faced with people who were suffering, sinning, sick—even those who were dying or dead. However, with his understanding of the good that God bestows, born of his gratitude for all that constant provision, Jesus literally changed what was being presented to him. With the acknowledgment of mankind’s divine heritage, he had divine authority to only experience and see God’s goodness. His love and gratitude for God had the natural result of healing.
Think of how, with all he had to face, Jesus was able to conclude, “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:30 ). What peace he must have had! This real gratitude and the humility that must accompany it enable us to freely love and make a difference for the progress of all mankind.
Sincere gratitude to God heals, and there is always more healing work to be done.
While helping at a summer camp earlier this year, I got a glimpse of the uplifting power this kind of gratitude has. One day I had the privilege of joining the campers on a trip to an amusement park. Once we arrived, we all loaded onto a shuttle that would take us from the parking lot to the park entrance. One of the few seats available on the shuttle was next to a man who wasn’t part of our group. I sat next to him, and we launched into a nice conversation. At one point, he told me that he was going to meet up with his two kids at the park entrance, and explained that about half an hour before, he had dropped his wife off back at the hotel because she wasn’t feeling well. The conversation continued for a few more minutes and then we said our goodbyes as the groups unloaded from the shuttle.
In this case, the man was not asking me to pray for him or his wife—and it would be intrusive and unethical for me to give Christian Science treatment to a family without their permission. But I thought of the spiritual understanding Jesus had before even beginning to speak or be spoken to, and the healing effect that it had. I realized I could do this as well. I began to claim in my own thought, in a general way, that it was not right for anyone to feel sick—especially in a case where they wanted to spend time with others. With all the sincere compassion I could muster, I refused to accept any illness as a reality and took a firm mental stand for everyone’s inherent goodness that comes from God.
The next morning our camp went back to the amusement park at a different time than the previous day. As I was walking to the entrance I ran into the man from the day before. I asked him, “I don’t want to pry, but is your wife feeling any better?” He responded, “Why don’t you ask her yourself?” Then he beckoned his wife over. I shook her hand and told her how happy I was to see her feeling better. The three of us continued talking, and I found out that she had felt completely well about 30 minutes after being dropped off at the hotel the day before. On top of that, she had gotten a call from the management of the hotel and the family was given a free night’s stay—which meant they could spend that day at the amusement park together!
I have found it to be so important to be humble and keep myself accountable in my own prayers. Our gratitude isn’t enhanced by constantly pointing out others who aren’t acting as we think they ought to. It isn’t helped by excessive conversations or charismatic speeches. Gratitude is illustrated by demonstration, not by words alone. This sincere gratitude to God heals, and there is always more healing work to be done. As Mary Baker Eddy writes, “It is possible,—yea, it is the duty and privilege of every child, man, and woman,—to follow in some degree the example of the Master by the demonstration of Truth and Life, of health and holiness” (Science and Health, p. 37 ).
