Thoughts on Gratitude...Again

Gratitude is hard work. It seems crazy that I even have to type those words. After all, I live in a part of the world where most of my problems could rightly be labeled “first world problems” (that phrase almost looks weird because I’m so used to seeing it as #firstworldproblems, which in and of itself helps prove the point). I have so much compared to so many. And yet it is so ridiculously hard to please me. Or for me to stay content.

I go through bouts where it comes a bit more naturally, where staying in a place of gratitude comes with more ease. But always I come back to a place of having to fight for it and work at it. Where it gets ugly and I become so tired of my own attitude that I am desperate to begin cultivating gratitude once again. Believe me, it’s not some super-holy desire to be obedient that often gets me here. I can’t live well in perpetual negativity. I don’t think any of us can. 

And maybe that’s why we’re admonished all throughout Scripture to give thanks. I think we can read those admonitions and sometimes feel once again like a little child who is being told to thank Aunt Susie for the birthday gift we may not have wanted in the first place. They can feel like distant, sterile reminders to “mind your manners.” But while minding our manners is important for certain social contexts, a heart of gratitude can transform our lives. Cultivating real gratitude is probably more like eating our vegetables and exercising than it is mere-manner minding. It's actually really good for us.

Giving thanks isn’t just something nice or proper to do. It’s good for our communities and necessary for our souls. And it’s not just something to do. I think it’s a way of being. It’s having a character shaped by trust in the goodness of God. But the being must be ushered in by the doing. And the doing doesn't have an end point--not in this life at least--and I can't fathom an eternity without thanks. But it doesn't matter what I can't fathom; this is what John heard and saw as he glimpsed Heaven:

"And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,
saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

And in another place it says they are saying "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain."

Jesus. The Lamb who was slain (and was raised) for me. For you. That certainly puts all my grumbling into perspective. On my worst day I have a living Savior who loves me and gave himself for me so that I can live the life I was meant to live and be the person I was meant to be--all for his glory.

And this is the part where I say something like, "Woe is me! For I am a woman of unclean lips..."

So I begin again. After a week of failing, thankful that His mercies are new every morning.

A Not-So-Novel-Idea

On a recent drive to work, as I was trying to calm some anxious thoughts, I was reminded of the Lord's Prayer. As I prayed those first words,“Our Father,” I was once again struck with the weight of what those words mean. I honed in on that simple word “Our” and was reminded of my community of brothers and sisters—not only my wonderful local Church and friends—but brothers and sisters around the world, some even suffering for their faithfulness to the truths I at times take so lightly. I was reminded that I am a part of something that is so much bigger than my one small and brief (though still precious in God’s eyes) life. I was reminded that Our Father has a plan for the world that He has graciously allowed me to be a part of, a plan that connects and unites all different kinds of people who otherwise would have little to nothing in common. And some of those people were praying that prayer at the same time as me.

Those are some wonderful things to be reminded of on a simple drive to work! All because of two words in an ancient prayer. 

 One thing that’s cool about praying the Lord’s Prayer is that even if you don’t get all the way through it, if you pause to mull over each line, and pray about things that come to mind related to each request, you have still prayed for some very significant things. You’ve still asked The Father for the things Jesus seemed to think were a top priority.

What I’m describing isn’t anything new; people have been praying this prayer and thinking these kinds of thoughts for centuries. But that’s part of the point, isn’t it? It’s funny how praying the Lord’s Prayer sometimes seems like a novel idea, but it’s really the opposite. A common complaint (and I’ve said it before) is I don’t even know how to pray right now! If you’re feeling this way, maybe a good place to start is with the not-so-novel prayer that Jesus taught his disciples. It might not seem like it applies to the very thing you’re going through, but I think Jesus made it broad enough to cover all your bases. Every joy, every difficulty, every trial can be brought to God in the words “Your Kingdom come. Your will be done,” as well as in the words, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” 

James Bryan Smith notes that "Jesus reveals the nature of the God to whom he prays in the context of his prayer." -The Good and Beautiful God, p.60

 In other words, the fact that Jesus says we can ask The Father for certain things is an indicator of his character. We can ask him for these things with the knowledge that he already wants to give them to us, otherwise, Jesus wouldn't have told us to ask for them!

In the liturgical church I grew up in, one of the prayers we prayed begins with these words: Almighty and Everlasting God, who art always more ready to hear than we to pray...

I think that's a pretty good incentive to pray. So, armed with the words Jesus taught us, the truths they remind us of, and the knowledge that they help to reveal God's character, may we begin (or be encouraged to continue) to pray to the One who is ready to hear. Even if you just think about the words "Our Father" for a while, I don't think you'll be in danger of wasting your time.