I am eager to share that in some of the most painful moments in my life, I learned so much about gratitude. Working through times when the people I love most in the world did things that seemed unthinkable and caused me great pain, I came to understand that my pain was rooted in my experience of their lack of gratitude. It felt as if I had given them this extraordinary gift of my love; care, sacrifice, time, and attention, and interpreted their behavior as indifference. Without veering into the psychology, of the powerlessness,or co-dependence of that, the wisdom, the 'takeaway' was that the finest expression of gratitude to the giver is for the gifted to love and fully experience the love and joy in the gift. I believe this a genuine reflection of God's love, and the importance that we 'give' thanks, by reveling in the gifts. Full circle thought, 'faith' is acknowledgement to the giver so we can be in relationship.
Thank you so much for sharing your writing. I just finished reading "Grateful" while recovering from a cold that I acquired while traveling. I am thankful for safe drive home and look forward to sharing your hopeful messages with my church circle in a few weeks. Our focus for October is gratitude. Your words in the book, "Make America Grateful Again -- with a radical restructuring of thanksgiving", are such a good message for our communities and the world. Philippians 1:3
I love everything about your piece, but especially the post script. That last paragraph in particular is so full of the hope and optimism that I’m finding so rare these days. Thank you for making me feel that we can save our wonderful, beautiful planet.
Trust. It, too, is God's gift, not something we decide we're going to have. We grow into it as we recall that "I cannot by my own effort believe in Jesus Christ or come to him, but the holy Spirit calls me by the gospel." (A brief summary of M. Luther in his Small Catechism explanation of the Apostles' Creed.) It is God, in Christ, through the Spirit, who enables all the gifts, including faith and trust. Any response we make is itself by the grace of God, a gift in which we rejoice, and for which we give thanks.
And thanks for your good words moving us to gratitude.
I liked what you said about the grandmother and ungrateful grandkids. They might grow up and finally appreciate their grandmother's faithful giving. For years I failed to fully appreciate the greenbelt next to our home because of grieving over the loss of view we once had there. Finally one Spring day, I felt convicted for failing to appreciate all the wonderful green trees we had to look at. I matured (grew up!) and gave up my useless grief and now continuously rejoice in the beautiful green close up view we have! We could have had ugly houses beside us. We are so blessed with our green trees!
I just got back late yesterday evening from a five day 55 mile backpacking excursion on the Ice Age Trail in the Northern Kettle Moraine State Forest in southern Wisconsin. Although this 66-year-old body is a little stiff and sore this morning from the experience, my heart and soul are overflowing. The colors of autumn are coming on strong here in southern Wisconsin and at times it seemed that each step I took in the forest wilderness was infused with beauty, wonder and awe. And in the evenings, as I lay quietly staring at the forest canopy and the stars beyond, I swear I could feel the peace and the love of God surrounding and enveloping me. Tears of joy streamed down my cheeks. It was a remarkable and humbling experience. I was so grateful to be a part of the natural world and to experience it at such an intimate level. I strongly feel that expressions of thankfulness and gratitude are also confirmations of our connectedness with nature and with others around us. It is also my affirmation that we are so much more connected to nature, our fellow creatures, and to each other than we can ever imagine. I believe that a life of gratitude is the beginning of a journey that will lead us to the heart of God and somehow to hope and healing that is so desperately needed in a world that sometimes seems so broken and wounded. Thank you Diana for your work.
Everything is so heavy.... it's helpful to broaden this healing of the lepers to the hope of healing in the brokenness of our world today. God's generosity doesn't change, right?
“Perhaps a new-found trust in mutuality, reciprocity, and sharing, humbly recognizing that everything is a gift, will make us whole.” ~ Diana Butler Bass
THIS is the hard part, it seems, for the existing churches who wonder why they’re not growing. My experience is that, as a newcomer to a church, I somehow have to prove myself to join. Am I a good fit? “Rest in the pews and see if we’re right for you,” I was recently told by a pastor, after I spent 3 months trying to plug into this committee, that mission, and with then with insights for a disability ministry.
Let’s not worry about the thank you notes just yet. Let’s worry about the welcome committee and the Seder. Who are we NOT inviting to the table? What are we doing to connect to others to help them feel motivated to truly say Thank You. Thank you for getting to know ME for who I am and for connecting with me so I can connect with you. We all MUST be in this together.
I think we need to always remember who Jesus invited to the table. When we do, it's really very humbling. Thank you for your observations and comments.
I think gratitude is, in essence, a way of being in the world. It's something that has to be practiced every day. We may not always feel gratitude, but it's important to express gratitude nonetheless. Eventually, it just becomes who we are. Definitely something I'm still working on.
Thank you for this gift of your writing this morning, Diana. Turning to say “thank you” is a recognition of the gift and in that turning is healing. Just what I needed on this day.
I think maybe this scripture is one I ingrained early in my childhood. But, today your writing re enforced being thankful immediately. Recently my husband and I needed physical help . We were out in public but no one was around. A complete stranger stopped his car ,got out and ran over to us and was able to help my husband up and make sure we were ok to get in our own car. We did say thank you and I am still GRATEFUL for this kind man who I am pretty sure is a trained medic of some kind but is also God follower.
I'm sorry to hear about the difficulties you experienced, but I'm also grateful that someone came along to help. I also know from experience how uplifting the help of a total stranger can be when you are in need. I just pray that when the time comes, that I also can be that helpful stranger in the time of someone else's need.
I am eager to share that in some of the most painful moments in my life, I learned so much about gratitude. Working through times when the people I love most in the world did things that seemed unthinkable and caused me great pain, I came to understand that my pain was rooted in my experience of their lack of gratitude. It felt as if I had given them this extraordinary gift of my love; care, sacrifice, time, and attention, and interpreted their behavior as indifference. Without veering into the psychology, of the powerlessness,or co-dependence of that, the wisdom, the 'takeaway' was that the finest expression of gratitude to the giver is for the gifted to love and fully experience the love and joy in the gift. I believe this a genuine reflection of God's love, and the importance that we 'give' thanks, by reveling in the gifts. Full circle thought, 'faith' is acknowledgement to the giver so we can be in relationship.
Thank you so much for sharing your writing. I just finished reading "Grateful" while recovering from a cold that I acquired while traveling. I am thankful for safe drive home and look forward to sharing your hopeful messages with my church circle in a few weeks. Our focus for October is gratitude. Your words in the book, "Make America Grateful Again -- with a radical restructuring of thanksgiving", are such a good message for our communities and the world. Philippians 1:3
Thanx for this reflection. Turn around. Would I be able to use part of this in my reflection for Thanksgiving Sunday service?
I love everything about your piece, but especially the post script. That last paragraph in particular is so full of the hope and optimism that I’m finding so rare these days. Thank you for making me feel that we can save our wonderful, beautiful planet.
Trust. It, too, is God's gift, not something we decide we're going to have. We grow into it as we recall that "I cannot by my own effort believe in Jesus Christ or come to him, but the holy Spirit calls me by the gospel." (A brief summary of M. Luther in his Small Catechism explanation of the Apostles' Creed.) It is God, in Christ, through the Spirit, who enables all the gifts, including faith and trust. Any response we make is itself by the grace of God, a gift in which we rejoice, and for which we give thanks.
And thanks for your good words moving us to gratitude.
Thank you, dear god, for the ability to heal and be healed, to rescue and be rescued.
Thank you for the poetry of today, of Joy Harjo, Czesław Miłosz, and Seamus Heaney.
Thank you for the work of Diana Butler Bass, and for the work of the readers and co-creators of this remote community.
Thank you, great mystery, for trust that can make us whole.
I liked what you said about the grandmother and ungrateful grandkids. They might grow up and finally appreciate their grandmother's faithful giving. For years I failed to fully appreciate the greenbelt next to our home because of grieving over the loss of view we once had there. Finally one Spring day, I felt convicted for failing to appreciate all the wonderful green trees we had to look at. I matured (grew up!) and gave up my useless grief and now continuously rejoice in the beautiful green close up view we have! We could have had ugly houses beside us. We are so blessed with our green trees!
Thank you for this, and Amen
I just got back late yesterday evening from a five day 55 mile backpacking excursion on the Ice Age Trail in the Northern Kettle Moraine State Forest in southern Wisconsin. Although this 66-year-old body is a little stiff and sore this morning from the experience, my heart and soul are overflowing. The colors of autumn are coming on strong here in southern Wisconsin and at times it seemed that each step I took in the forest wilderness was infused with beauty, wonder and awe. And in the evenings, as I lay quietly staring at the forest canopy and the stars beyond, I swear I could feel the peace and the love of God surrounding and enveloping me. Tears of joy streamed down my cheeks. It was a remarkable and humbling experience. I was so grateful to be a part of the natural world and to experience it at such an intimate level. I strongly feel that expressions of thankfulness and gratitude are also confirmations of our connectedness with nature and with others around us. It is also my affirmation that we are so much more connected to nature, our fellow creatures, and to each other than we can ever imagine. I believe that a life of gratitude is the beginning of a journey that will lead us to the heart of God and somehow to hope and healing that is so desperately needed in a world that sometimes seems so broken and wounded. Thank you Diana for your work.
Everything is so heavy.... it's helpful to broaden this healing of the lepers to the hope of healing in the brokenness of our world today. God's generosity doesn't change, right?
“Perhaps a new-found trust in mutuality, reciprocity, and sharing, humbly recognizing that everything is a gift, will make us whole.” ~ Diana Butler Bass
THIS is the hard part, it seems, for the existing churches who wonder why they’re not growing. My experience is that, as a newcomer to a church, I somehow have to prove myself to join. Am I a good fit? “Rest in the pews and see if we’re right for you,” I was recently told by a pastor, after I spent 3 months trying to plug into this committee, that mission, and with then with insights for a disability ministry.
Let’s not worry about the thank you notes just yet. Let’s worry about the welcome committee and the Seder. Who are we NOT inviting to the table? What are we doing to connect to others to help them feel motivated to truly say Thank You. Thank you for getting to know ME for who I am and for connecting with me so I can connect with you. We all MUST be in this together.
I think we need to always remember who Jesus invited to the table. When we do, it's really very humbling. Thank you for your observations and comments.
Agreed! He calls us all. It’s up to us, as the Body of Christ, to help everyone feel welcome to the imperfectly wonderful congregation. Right?
Beautiful
Thank you Diane! I get frustrated by performative gratitude in our culture and love how you reclaim it as a pure, simple, and essential act.
I think gratitude is, in essence, a way of being in the world. It's something that has to be practiced every day. We may not always feel gratitude, but it's important to express gratitude nonetheless. Eventually, it just becomes who we are. Definitely something I'm still working on.
Well said!
Thank you Teri!
I expounded on your theme just a bit in my response.
Thank you for this gift of your writing this morning, Diana. Turning to say “thank you” is a recognition of the gift and in that turning is healing. Just what I needed on this day.
I think maybe this scripture is one I ingrained early in my childhood. But, today your writing re enforced being thankful immediately. Recently my husband and I needed physical help . We were out in public but no one was around. A complete stranger stopped his car ,got out and ran over to us and was able to help my husband up and make sure we were ok to get in our own car. We did say thank you and I am still GRATEFUL for this kind man who I am pretty sure is a trained medic of some kind but is also God follower.
I'm sorry to hear about the difficulties you experienced, but I'm also grateful that someone came along to help. I also know from experience how uplifting the help of a total stranger can be when you are in need. I just pray that when the time comes, that I also can be that helpful stranger in the time of someone else's need.
Yes and thank you I too want to be aware and able to help in someway when needed.
I pray that I can say thank you more often and complain less often. May I give grace to others as God gives to me. Thank you Diana!
Giving grace to others. That is something I'd like to say I do often, but I'm afraid I often fall short.