Gratitude

“After taking the cup, [Jesus] gave thanks ... And he took the bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them ...”  Luke 22:17, 19

Stop and ask yourself, “When am I most thankful?”  [And take time to answer.  We can wait...]

Pondering this question, I identified three types of scenarios in which I find myself most thankful.

When someone helps with or eliminates an overwhelming challenge for me, I am especially grateful.  And greatly relieved!  For not only is the obstacle gone, so too is the anxiety that accompanied it.  Those are the moments when we pause and heave a great sigh of relief, “Thank you!” ... and “Thank you, God!”

Then there are the gifts that clearly involved great sacrifice, whether time or money.  When we were engaged, Peggy gave me for Christmas a beautiful quilt over which she had toiled for several months.  The thought of the love flowing out through those painstaking hours brought tears to my eyes then, and brings a lump to the throat even now.

And I treasure humble gifts, given from a loving heart.  My son, Matthew, and I took up golf when he was 12 and I in my early 40's.  AFter I shot under 50 for nine holes for the first time, this middle-school boy surprised me with a sleeve of golf balls purchased with his own money to celebrate the occasion.  That box and its contents sit as a trophy on my nightstand even now, not to memorialize my score that day, but as a treasured reminder of my son’s love for me, expressed in a simple gift.

As I thought about these “thanksgiving” occasions, it occurred to me that they all share one thing in common.  They all emanate from grace – undeserved favor.  Which I guess makes sense.  For what is thankfulness, but gratitude?  And what is gratitude, literally, but the soul’s overwhelming response to grace?

How different might this Thanksgiving be if, in addition to thinking of the blessings in our lives, we ask ourselves, “What favor have I received that I clearly did not deserve?”

[To see the daily reading in Luke 22:14-23, click here.]