Thanksgiving: An Attitude of Gratitude

It’s easy to be grateful when things go the way we like, or we have happy surprises. Not so easy when things don’t. Pain and suffering, and prayers not answered as we hoped can make gratitude very difficult, if not impossible. Sometimes we are so shaken by what seems to be a ‘No” answer to prayer, we lose our faith. 

When that happened to me, I was shocked, humiliated, and angry because right after praying what I was about to do would be to God’s glory, it was an epic and very public fail. I felt abandoned by God. A spiritual director said, you need to make a gratitude list. Well, that suggestion just made me even more angry. I was so upset I decided I no longer believed in God, so I stopped praying and going to chapel. The person who was responsible for me being in that situation came to me, and said, much to my surprise, “Didn’t you see the grace surrounding you?”  I said, “What grace? All I saw was failure and humiliation, abandoned by God." She calmly said, “They all witnessed your suffering and stood with you out of compassion, helping you, but you were too self-absorbed to notice.” That shook me out of my pity-party. My spiritual eyes were opened as I realized that what seemed like a NO turned out to be “YES, just wait for it … it may not be what you wanted, but it will be what you and others need.” I could not have anticipated the good that came from this experience, and I’m grateful someone helped me see it. I’m grateful for being supported by others when I was too wounded to carry on, and for their faith holding me when I lost my own.   

It’s easy to be grateful when things go our way, not so easy when they don’t. Gratitude gained from adversity is liberating and empowering. The 12-Step programs know this. They encourage an “attitude of gratitude” because it is a gateway to healing and inner peace.

What are you grateful for? The little blessings, the big ones? That you are hosting Thanksgiving? That you are NOT hosting Thanksgiving? The more we live with an “attitude of gratitude”, the more we find strength to endure, hope to persevere, peace to accept what can’t be changed, and joy in deep connections with others.     

Let us cultivate and share the power of gratitude for helping us rise above differences to create a safe way for us all to experience and share Divine Love, hope, and gratitude.

Amen.