One of the main reasons I know that gratitude is foundational to life: I don't believe anyone is happy being miserable. I've never seen any joy come out of complaining. Neither have I seen negative states of thought produce one good thing.

Recently a friend told me how prayers of thanksgiving were lifesaving. It was on the afternoon of August 13, when Hurricane Charley hit the city of Punta Gorda, Florida. Gary lives on the top floor of an apartment building there, and he and a friend were huddled in a closet. Despite the fact that Gary had never felt or heard anything as fierce as the torrent sweeping around his building, he said he felt amazingly calm. His prayers centered on thanking God for being with them. He thanked God for giving him messages of peace, quieting his fear. The way he said it was, "I knew there was no turbulence in divine Mind."

When the roof came off and the rain washed in, he felt God guiding him to stay in that closet and keep praying, even though it seemed the worst of the storm was over. That decision was to save their lives. The wind changed direction, breaking through the glass and taking everything out of the front room of the apartment.

Days later, Gary still was not able to go back into the building. Eventually I reached him on his cellphone. It was remarkable to hear the authority in his voice. He had been catapulted into helping all the people in the community who were worse off than he was. Throughout this experience, he had continued to feel protected and sustained by God. And he said that was what enabled him to give generously and tirelessly to other people.

Gary's prayer in the closet, praising and thanking God, may seem extraordinary compared with the anxiety, even terror, that many people may have felt. But what if praising and thanking God really is the most logical response? I say logical, because, for me, it's a foundational spiritual fact that God consistently holds His sons and daughters in a position of safety, and provides for all their needs. Gary says he has seen proof of this every day since the storm, and it humbles him to see his church family and many people in the community acknowledging this fact.

Gary's conviction also gives me assurance that God is caring for those who suffered tragedy—even though we didn't get to see the exact form of that care. For me, the deepest feeling of thanksgiving comes out of an understanding that God protects and preserves us because He maintains what He creates. This is our spiritual identity.

There's no question that this takes humble, patient, willing listening for God's guidance. The spirit of thanksgiving is a consistent worship of the foundation of life. The Bible explains this when it says that God was satisfied with the goodness and beauty of His creation—including you and me (see Gen. 1). Even after a storm, that beauty and goodness reassert themselves, just as a frozen sapling springs back from the crush of winter snow. What God does, is established forever.

More and more I am coming to understand that God's love is worthy of constant praise. It is the basis of every good thing you do—the blessing of a phone call returned; the surprise of finding that what you had to offer was exactly what someone else needed; the clarity of an idea that gives new direction to your prayers. I feel God's love when I discover the need to change my perspective on, say, a person, or an event, or a decision I must make.

When I really know God as the divine Principle of being, this secures and settles me, and I feel more resilient about the demands on me. Honoring God as the origin of Life, renews and refreshes me no matter what the hour of the day. To recognize God's love, comforts beyond anything any human could do. This honoring and worshiping God is a form of thanksgiving.

Every moment of world-weariness, every time of doubt, every incursion of fear — whether legitimate or not — is an opportunity to remember that I can praise God because He has a permanent bond with me, as He does with everyone else.

One of my spiritual mentors told me that she had carved these initials in her wooden desk: P.O.M.M. They are an acronym for Poor Old Mortal Me (mortal as distinct from spiritual identity). This was the desk where she answered the phone in her Christian Science healing work. She said she had come to realize over the years of her ministry that the way she got most off-track was when she started feeling sorry for herself. The key to her freedom to keep on doing good was to admit any evidence that showed how beautifully and generously God had always cared for her needs. This assured her of His power to help the people she was praying for, too.

Her insight, I find, needs to be followed very consistently. Sometimes I don't even notice the way negative thoughts creep in. Suddenly I'm in a mental funk that is completely foreign to what I have been learning about God. Mary Baker Eddy called this influence "mental malpractice"—literally, bad mental practice. In the face of this, it's helpful to say out loud, "I will not let my thoughts be used to deny that God is good." Then I remember that I can see the good of life and celebrate it. The recognition of every sign of goodness lays the foundation that keeps negative influences at bay.

This must have been Jesus' recourse, too. The Bible shows he would thank God even before a healing took place. Think of Jesus' raising of Lazarus from death (see John 11), and the way he commended a leper who gave thanks for his healing (see Luke 17). Consider his last meal with his disciples, when he knew he was to be crucified. He was able to wash the feet of all of them, including Judas, who would betray him. What gave him that strength? Gratitude. Jesus was grateful that "the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God" (John 13:3).

I remember the insight that anchored my prayers during the hurricanes, while I was waiting to hear what had happened to my friend Gary. I realized that no matter how ferocious the winds over the ocean, the disturbance would stay primarily on the surface of the water. Beneath the surface, the vast proportion of the ocean would stay calm. This was a promise from God that no matter how devastating the damage from the hurricanes, the people of Florida would have a foundation on which to rebuild their lives. This is true during any other storms that hit in life, anywhere in the world. God is constant. It's always a good time for thanksgiving.