Thanks: The practice of Gratefulness and
Appreciation: Awakening to the Goodness of God
Alternative words: Again. This.
Dayenu.
Starting point: “If the only prayer you said in your whole life was
‘thank you’, that would be sufficient” – Meister Eckhart (p62)
Learning from the happiness in poor communities (Guatemala):
“I remind myself of something that we all know, but we don’t take seriously
enough: it is not how much you have that
brings happiness; it is how much you appreciate however much or little you have”
(p64) “If here suggests waking up and presenting ourselves to the presence of
God, thanks means waking up to the
presents of God....waking up to the abundant gifts of life with which we have
already been blessed.” (p67)
On the way:
·
“Wealth comes with a hidden danger, a threat to
happiness. The more we have the more we
need to practise gratitude; otherwise we will begin taking more and more of
what we have for granted. If we
habitually take more and more for granted, our ingratitude will eventually lead
to....unhappiness” (p64-65)
·
“Consumerism robs the soul of happiness while it
sells the soul more stuff”. Gratitude is essential because spirituality...is
constantly under assault by consumerism, which claims that the source of joy is
not in God, or within, but in buying new things or spending money. A lot of
people spend a lot of money every day trying to keep us from being happy, so
that we want, and then buy, more stuff...the impact on the planet and on
ourselves is clear. Is it possible that gratitude might just save the planet? (p64-65)
·
“..in reality you are inter-connected not only
with others, but with all creation”.
Every time eat, drink or draw breath demonstrates that we are not
self-contained units. “Ingratitude makes
us foolishly forget the fragility of our own skin and proudly deny our
interdependency and interconnectedness.
If true spirituality and authentic religion are about vital
interconnectedness, you can see how essential the practice of gratitude must be”
(p71-72)
·
‘In everything, give thanks’ – BUT “the words ‘in
everything’ shouldn’t be confused with ‘for everything’ of course. But neither should they be thinned to mean ‘in
easy circumstances’. Even in pain, we can find a place of gratitude, a place
where alongside the agony of loss we still count and appreciate what remains.”
(p75)
·
Dayenu: “It
would have been enough” – borrowed
from Hebrew, taken from key part of Passover celebration, dayenu functions within the retelling of the story of God’s
goodness over the generations... see p76-77
Walking with scripture: Give
us this day our daily bread (Matthew 6:8-10) – evokes journey through the wilderness
(Exodus 16, p72-3); Jesus’ prayer teaches us to travel light: if we have food
and clothing we have enough (1 Tim. 6:8, p73); ineffectiveness of worry (Matt
6:25-33, p73-74); reasons for gratitude found even in suffering (Matt 5:3-12,
p74)
Moving on: “With these counter-intuitive sayings and others like
them, Jesus enrols us in advanced classes in the school of gratitude. He shows us the disadvantages of advantages,
the advantages of disadvantages. He will
make this paradox most dramatic through his own death; his suffering and
crucifixion will eventually bring freedom and hope to all humanity....Here is
the deepest lesson of gratitude then: to be grateful not just in the good times,
but also in the bad times.” (p74)
Pointers for prayer:
Start with our own bodies (even toes!); move on to physical
possessions; family; friends, pastors, colleagues; institutions; things we
enjoy; natural world...I can ponder each one while holding ‘thanks’ open to God
like a hand.
Again – “one of the greatest obstacles to gratitude is the sheer
bounty of God’s generosity” – Again, God,
again you have blessed me. Again, I savour this gift. Again, I appreciate. Again, I say thanks.
Again. Again.
SUMMARISED FROM 'NAKED SPIRITUALITY' BY BRIAN D. McCLAREN (HODDER AND STOUGHTON, 2010) - this summary produced by Jane Perry Feb 2012
SUMMARISED FROM 'NAKED SPIRITUALITY' BY BRIAN D. McCLAREN (HODDER AND STOUGHTON, 2010) - this summary produced by Jane Perry Feb 2012