Thanks

Thanks is the second of our simple words.  This is our summary of Chapters 6 and 7.

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