“Attitude of Gratitude”
Well, today, on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, we are putting our focus on Gratitude.
One of my favorite quotes about gratitude comes the 13th Century Christian mystic, Meister Eckhart, who said, “If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is ‘Thank You,’ that would be enough.”
‘Thank You’ is one of the most powerful spiritual practices.
And in today’s Gospel reading, Jesus is teaching us about the Spiritual Power of Gratitude.
Notice that throughout his ministry, Jesus is consistently giving thanks.
For example, you remember when he took the 5 loaves and 2 fish, and the first thing he did was give thanks for it. And, that expression of gratitude caused increase.
Gratitude leads to abundance.
And, you remember at the Last Supper, before Jesus shared the bread and the wine with his apostles, it says: “He gave thanks.”
Now, in today’s Gospel reading, we see that Jesus ministers to 10 people, but only 1 of them returns to say, “Thank you.” Only 1!!
And, Jesus tells us that because of this belief (because of this expression of gratitude), the person is made whole.
When we practice an “Attitude of Gratitude” in our lives, we experience wholeness and abundance.
What we appreciate appreciates! It grows!
The contemporary spiritual teacher, Lewis Howes, says: “If you concentrate on what you have, you always have more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you’ll never have enough.”
So, which is it for you? Do you focus on your blessings, or do you focus on what you lack? Do you express gratitude, or do you find fault?
The National Science Foundation says that we have 65,000 thoughts a day. 95% of those are repetitive, and 80% are negative.
Most of our thoughts are negative, and we keep repeating the same negative ones!
Wouldn’t it be amazing if we could control our thoughts? If we can “retrain our brains”?
Well, guess what? We can!
Most people don’t know that. Most people don’t realize that. And, they suffer, but they’re servants to their thoughts, rather than masters of their thinking.
I was one of those people, but several years ago, I woke up.
And, one of the things that really helped me to “break free” was keeping a daily Gratitude Journal.
In fact, this past week, I gifted gratitude journals to our entire Confirmation Class.
Keeping a Gratitude Journal is such an easy spiritual practice, but with such powerful results.
Place a journal on your nightstand, and each night before you go to bed, write down 5 things that happened that day that you were grateful for.
Before you drift off to sleep, you are putting on mind on positive things.
Many people go to sleep with worries, fears, frustrations, and anxiety on their minds, and then they wonder why they can’t get a good night’s sleep.
It is no exaggeration for me to tell you that a keeping a Gratitude Journal changed my life.
Each day, I began to look around for more-and-more things to be grateful for.
And, I started to replace my negative thoughts with positive affirmations.
And, I believe, that I literally re-wired my brain…and my life has never been richer or fuller.
All because of an “Attitude of Gratitude.”
We all know how amazing it feels when we experience gratitude in our lives…in our jobs, in our relationships.
When your boss praises you at work, you feel great…you feel appreciated! It makes you want to come back to work the next day and do more.
But, how does it feel when your boss starts taking you for granted, and starts criticizing you over small things?
The same is true in our relationships.
When most of us fall in love, we can’t stop expressing gratitude for our partner. They can do no wrong in our eyes! We leave little love notes and little gifts for them. We can’t stop showing our appreciation for them!
But, then we get complacent. And, we begin to find fault. We start focusing on little things, like socks on the floor or taking out the garbage.
When gratitude is absent, we start to find small things to complain about.
But when we put our focus on gratitude, we begin to see things with new eyes.
Scripture tells us in Romans 12, “Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
Which means, when you change your thoughts, your life will be transformed.
That’s just how it works! I speak to you from personal experience.
And, so, my friends, on this “Thanksgiving Sunday,” may an “Attitude of Gratitude” help all of us to see more clearly, love more dearly, and follow the Way of Jesus more nearly. May it be so.