I've posted some of these quotes before, but thought they were worth resharing this Thanksgiving week.
“Gratitude…is a response to grace. The compassionate life is a grateful life, and actions born out of gratefulness are not compulsive but free, not somber but joyful, not fanatical but liberating. When gratitude is the source of our actions, our giving becomes receiving and those to whom we minister become our ministers."
(Henri Nouwen in Compassion)
“To be grateful is to recognize the love of God in everything He has given us – and He has given us everything. Every breath we draw is a gift of His love, every moment of existence is a grace, for it brings with it immense graces from Him. Gratitude therefore takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to a new wonder and to praise of the goodness of God. For the grateful person knows that God is good, not be hearsay but by experience. And that is what makes all the difference…Gratitude is therefore the heart of the solitary life, as it is the heart of the Christian life.”
(Thomas Merton in Thoughts in Solitude)
“Gratitude takes nothing for granted. It acknowledges each favor, each gift – both big and small. It also recognizes the giver…Gratitude recognizes that a gift has been given, a favor has been done by someone. There is a gift and a giver. But there is more. Gratitude also calls for a response to that gift. We thank the giver with an expression of appreciation – a handshake, a hug, a note. A gesture of gratitude completes the exchange, closes the circle, let’s the love flow back to the giver.”
“God is the giver. We are the thanks-givers…As gestures of gratitude unite us on a human level, they also unite us with the divine Giver. God offers gracious gifts, covenantal blessings, summarized in ‘You Belong.’ In response we say, ‘Thanks! I am grateful!’ We embrace God’s acceptance of us and in turn are embraced…Our social gestures of thanks, like a handshake or a letter, correspond to our religious gestures, like sacrifice, worship, obedience. Religious gestures are our way of saying to God, ‘Thank you for all the good things that come from you, the Source of all life.’”
“Gratitude as recognition, receptivity, and response is a basic attitude and action of the Christian life. We not only recognize and are aware of God’s gifts to us, but we also continually find ways of saying thanks to God in worship, prayer, and ‘whatever we say or do.’ Our aim is to live our whole life as a sacred gesture of thanksgiving, a deep bow of gratitude, solidifying our relationship with God.”
(Don Postema in Space for God)
