Gratitude

If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, “thank you,” that would suffice

Meister Eckhart

After a great weekend in Turkey with my dear friend, Jenn Reimer, I am happy to be back "home" in Bethlehem. Surprisingly, passport control entering Israel was only a 5 minute wait which was wonderful since I was detained for about 45 minutes when I tried to leave Turkey. It is so interesting when there is some sort of problem at customs because they will never look at you in the eye or explain what's going on. They just keep bringing people over to look at your paperwork, make dozens of calls, and then type mysterious things into their computers. When I finally was cleared, everyone in line behind me kept asking me what I had done. I think they thought I must be some kind of subversive terrorist type.  I know what you are thinking: "I can totally see that. Debbie Whaley always looks a bit threatening."  NOT!

My driver, Habib, dropped me off at my apartment around 1 am. The streets were empty, the air still. I was mesmerized by the twinkling Christmas lights that lit the way home. It was pure delight to be back in this little town of Bethlehem.  "How still we see thee lie . . .!'

It seems strange but the contentment I felt in the quiet of the night was the same sense of shalom I felt waiting at the Bethlehem checkpoint the next day. Despite the pouring rain and the bitter cold, I looked around and saw people and places that have become so familiar and friendly to me now: the graffiti on the Separation Wall, the men gathered around the mechanics shop, the young guy selling coffee at the checkpoint for 3 shekels, and even the drab green uniforms of the IDF soldiers. I was grateful, deeply grateful for the privilege of living in my Palestinian pit stop. I was overcome with emotion as joy flooded my soul.

Gratitude is a uniquely human experience. While our pets are happy when we do things for them, gratitude is deeper. It is shaped by an awareness of blessings that are generated by something greater than the sum of one's own effort. For the Christian, gratitude is our heart-felt response to God's generous beneficence. We perceive God's providential protection and provision and, as a a result, find ourselves embracing the unquantifiable abundance already present in our lives.  It stops us from giving priority to the long list of life's deficits and disappointments.

I'm aware that many may counter that gratitude is a function of temperament. After all, there is truth in acknowledging that people often fall into either the glass is half full or half empty category. But I believe gratitude is not simply temperament or even an emotion. It is a way of relating to the world that places God as the center around which our lives revolve. We then perceive that life is truly a gift and not some sort of entitlement. Entrusting ourselves to the Creator who shapes and molds our lives, we snuggle into the warm dependency of God's maternal care. The alternative is not so lovely.  When we orient our lives solely on ourselves, or even when we try to share that orientation with God, we always fall short and fail. Sadly, others always fail us. Disappointment becomes bitterness which leads to contempt. And contempt, whether directed towards the self or another, poisons the soul.

I admit that I am a person more inclined towards a positive, optimistic worldview. I have never endured clinical depression although I have deeply suffered in my life. The dark night is not a metaphor for me - it is a reality I have experienced. I have weathered the tumultuous tempest of incest, been betrayed and abandoned by those committed to love me, and have grieved the loss of many potentialities and people along the way. Even more tragic, I have had to face the truth of my own brokenness and navigate the debris and wreckage I have caused by my immature and sinful behavior. Even so, I am grateful for every breath I have been granted. Life is good. God is even better. The delightful wallowing in the sticky, thick mud of God's glorious grace is a gift I daily claim. Gratitude is the natural response.

Because the gravitational center is no longer focused on us, we are strengthened to endure circumstances that might crush others. We are enlightened to perceive beauty to which others are indifferent. We are invited to humbly speak the truth about injustice knowing that we are not and can never be the righteous judge. Living hopefully becomes possible because God's provision is not dependent upon perfection - mine or others. Gratitude remakes us, reorients us, refreshes us.

No one sums this up better than Melodie Beattie in her book, The Language of Letting Go Journal. She writes:

Say thank you until you meant it. 

Thank God, life, and the Universe for everyone and everything sent your way. 

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. It turns problems into gifts, failures into successes, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. It can turn existence into real life and disconnected situations into important and beneficial lessons. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. 

Gratitude makes things right. 

Gratitude turns negative energy into positive energy. There is no situation or circumstance so small or large that is not susceptible to gratitude’s power. We can start with who we are and what we have today, apply gratitude, and let it work its magic. 

Say thank you until you mean it.  If you say it long enough, you will believe it.