Several years ago, I learned an important lesson about the healing power of gratitude. My friend Cheryl suggested that right in the midst of turmoil--whether it be pain, fear or anger--I could stop and thank God “for having done everything so well.” I soon had an opportunity to put this idea to the test. One afternoon my young son and daughter got into a tiff, and before long it was all I could do to keep them from physically lashing out at each other. Exhausted from restraining my son and feeling totally helpless to control the situation, I finally retreated to a bedroom, shut the door, and sat down on the floor. As my kids ranted and raved in the background, I began to pray, "Thank you God for having done everything so well. Thank you for making Lincoln and Heidi calm. Thank you for causing them to express peace. Thank you for filling our home with joy and kindness." I wasn't thanking God for what I hoped to find expressed in our home in the future; my prayers of thanksgiving were an acknowledgement that right then and there all was well and harmonious. I became so absorbed in my grateful celebration of God's presence that the next time I listened for what might be going on downstairs, my children were happily playing together--and apparently had been for quite some time.
I have also experienced the power of gratitude to sustain me when the going is tough or when resolution or healing seems slow in coming. Sometimes I have felt so ill or disconcerted that I have been unsure how I could accomplish necessary tasks. In moments like this, I've learned to completely put every activity into God's hands, humbly thanking Him for each dish loaded into the dishwasher or every letter mailed at the office. Almost without fail, these difficult days end up being extremely productive. Gratitude helps me prove that God's strength and dominion are present facts in spite of what the body or mind may argue to the contrary.
These experiences came to thought as I was pondering comments my friend Kate shares at the end of a recent blog Stone River Reflections: "So when days grows dark and cold..." (be sure to read the follow-up comments she posted). Kate suggests that "there is no future (in a linear sense of things) there is only now." So much of life seems to be about getting from point A to point B. Last night, I realized that gratitude bridges the gap, breaks up and eliminates the time/space continuum between where we are and where we want or need to be. Like the law that irresistibly draws two magnets together, gratitude pulls point A and B together--not starting from point A and eventually reaching point B, but more like two hands moving rapidly towards each other and coming together in an irresistible clap of delight.
Reason may say that gratitude should be a future act after "the goods" are received, but I believe present gratitude for that which our heart seeks, "gratitude in advance" as some people call it, actually changes our experience of the present, speeding what may seem to be the future into our experience now. When my children were arguing, gratitude focused my thought on the immediate spiritual reality--God's control right then and there, and this changed the atmosphere of my home. Harmony became all that I could possibly hear.
Sometimes we have no idea what point B might look like. This is a perfect time to thank God for giving us purpose and vision, for supplying every need, giving us all the ideas we need right now. As we do, we can expect apparent limits of time, opportunities, or funds to disappear. I've seen over and over again how gratitude brings tangible and often unexpected results--the time we were out of food and a friend dropped off leftovers from a family feast, the hand-me-downs of a coat, even socks, for one of our children just before I was about to spend money we didn’t really have to buy them, a significant job opportunity when I was humble enough to apply for employment at Burger King, incredible forgiveness shown as I cherished mercy.
Gratitude brings trust in and wonderful proofs of God's ever-present, all-encompassing care, now and forever.
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