Gratitude is a God-derived grace we all need to express more. Yet it is one that many people think they already do fully express. If, in endeavoring to help a friend over a rough spot, one recommends gratitude to God as helpful, the response is apt to be, "But I am grateful!" But many of us have a long way to go before we can honestly say this.

The phrase "I am grateful" is one that the Christian does not use lightly. Much more than a polite "Thank You," gratitude to God involves active response to the blessings He pours out to us.

If our concept of gratitude is general rather than specific, it is likely to be abstract and theoretical rather than demonstrably practical. In other words, true gratitude involves much more than the assumption that one is basically grateful. Gratitude, being a God-derived quality, has its source, its essence, and its substance in divine Love. Gratitude is vital. It translates Love's qualities into action. It gets us loving, moving, doing. When we truly feel the gratitude we speak, we utilize the blessings we have already received from God, the divine Mind, and put into practice the qualities we have derived from Principle. This active proof of our gratitude to God for the good that He has given us brings even more of His blessings to light.

Looking out on my backyard one rainy April day, I thought unhappily that we would miss having a flower garden that year. The gardener in the family would be involved with other activities. At this point a line from a hymn came to mind, "A grateful heart a garden is." ^{Christian Science Hymnal, No. 3;} I reminded myself that I was very grateful for the flower gardens we'd enjoyed in the past. The next thought that came was a line from Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy, "Action expresses more gratitude than speech." ^{Science and Health, p. 3;} I asked myself, "What action?" The answer came, "You do it. You can make a flower garden." "Who? Me? Impossible!" was my immediate reaction.

But even though I had never done any gardening, I had been learning of God's great love to man, realizing in some degree that I was made in His image and likeness and was the expression of His qualities. I saw that through understanding God better I could make these ideas active in my experience, giving practical proof of my sonship with Him. The thought "Action expresses more gratitude than speech" wouldn't go away. The next sunny day I started to turn the ground over with a spade. I was grateful I had accepted the thought that I was capable of doing this, and I kept thanking God for the ability and strength He was giving me.

Presently, my next door neighbor came out and called, "Whatever are you doing? Let me help." Gratitude was growing. Shortly after that, her next door neighbor joined us. In no time at all the thirty-by-thirty-foot plot was all spaded and raked out. In the weeks that followed, I joyfully seeded, watered, and transplanted. I loved every moment of it. We had a glorious array of blooms until frost. "A grateful heart a garden is" had been the starter. The rest of the same verse was true fulfillment of God's promise:

Sometimes we hear it said, "But I expect my husband to be strong, faithful, generous, and capable," or, "I expect my wife to be loving, understanding, patient, orderly, and thrifty," or, "We expect our children to be loving, obedient, and appreciative." That's fine. Expect good, but be careful not to take it for granted. We need to acknowledge good wherever we find it, and appreciate others for acting in accord with it. To identify good is a powerful factor in establishing and maintaining harmonious relationships with others. Keeping one's mind full of good thoughts is thanking God. And we can give thanks not only for the good already received but also for the good we confidently anticipate each day.

Gratitude to God includes devout obedience to spiritual law. Christ Jesus said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments." ^{John 14:15;} Heartfelt gratitude for the healing Christ fills us with the longing to purify our thought through discipline and control. It impels us to spiritualize our consciousness. And we do it joyfully and gratefully, for gratitude and joy are correlated. A grateful person is a happy person. Thought attuned to praise demonstrates the Mind of Christ. Faced with the most dire circumstances, Jesus prayed, "Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me." ^11:41;

Tender gratitude for God's goodness and love established in our hearts is immovable. It strengthens our firm resolve not to be impatient with, or critical of, the faults of others. It anchors us firmly in the determination not to react negatively to the stubbornness, selfishness, conceit, egotism, or apathy that may seem so real. Gratitude for the good that is ours eliminates envy, jealousy, and covetousness. Firmly entrenched in steadfast gratitude—not so much for the things we have as for the growth in spirituality that is developing—we demonstrate our love for God in better lives.

However, let's not despise the things we have. Often they are evidence of the expression of Christliness and generosity. Sincere giving to our church results in the appearance of more affluence in human experience. This appearing—when it is the result of the actual demonstration of increased spirituality—represents not an increase but a lessening of materialism, according to Christian Science.

Gratitude to God is a potent healing agent. Lifting thought above self and sin, gratitude develops confidence, poise, and stability; it enhances our healing ability and expedites healing. Needed in working out our problems and our salvation, it unfolds a constant awareness of God's nearness, all-presence and all-power, and keeps our thought centered on God. Gratefulness heals wounds, rifts, feuds, for it inspires us to look beyond material sense testimony to behold the perfect man of God's creating, spiritual, complete in Him. And the realization of man's completeness in God heals.

As our love for God deepens, it manifests itself in continuous, spontaneous gratitude for all good everywhere. Fortified with active gratitude, we can outface error's every apparent onslaught, including the beliefs of sin and disease that would rob us of health, peace, and abundance. Through God-inspired love for humanity Mrs. Eddy makes this appeal: "Gratitude and love should abide in every heart each day of all the years." ^{Manual of The Mother Church, Art. XVII, Sect. 2.} We cherish gratitude.