The Sanity of Gratitude

My goal this year has been to try to maintain an attitude of gratitude. It all started after an interesting discussion with a Franciscan monk about the nature of prayer and my personal neediness. He asked me if I ever thanked God. "Good point", I acknowledged. Well...sad to say, I can count on one hand the number of times I've paused this month to be thankful for anything. What with the holidays looming, creative endeavors pressing, the burdens of work and life plans not panning out like I wanted, it's been way too easy to start focusing on what I don't have.

There is definitely a downside to forgetting to be grateful for all the things God does provide. When I forget to stay spiritually openhearted and acknowledge God's loving work in my life, it's like losing the rudder in a boat. The change in my consciousness is subtle at first...no big deal...but pretty soon I'm adrift and back to using anything I can find for a paddle to get to the nearest "safe" place. Unfortunately for me the "safe places" I gravitate to are not necessarily the best places for me to be paddling to.

So, this Thanksgiving, I'm grateful for the learning opportunities God offers me in the form of my own ingratitude. By His grace, he opened my heart in Love, so now, when I close my heart and look away, I can recognize the absence of Love and open and turn once again to his Light to embrace the benefits and sanity of gratitude.