Thank You, God

THANK YOU, GOD,

If the only prayer you say in your whole life is “Thank You,

that would suffice.

Meister Eckhart

Cited in Christian Mystics

Matthew Fox gives this summary:

     “Meister Eckhart, like Julian, believes that gratitude is at the heart of an authentic spiritual experience. In fact, prayer is for him, primarily is an act not of begging or beseeching or wanting or needing– but of thanking.

The word Eucharist comes from the Greek word for ‘to give thanks.’  So, Christian worship is primarily a thank-you gathering. Thomas Aquinas also taught that the very essence of a true religion is gratitude.”

     It cannot be underestimated, even though it is often overlooked, except briefly for the Thanksgiving holiday, that gratitude is one of the chief virtues in any authentic spirituality 

Or any genuine religious tradition. More than faith or hope, and I would say of parallel importance to love, gratitude is the affirmation of our souls that recognizes and affirms our essential and eternal connection to the Divine.

Gratitude involves us in the active acknowledgement of the blessings of ordinary life because it is shared with God, and that we are a part of God and all of this ongoing, continually gracious Creation Story. 

     One of the earliest of the Pauline Epistles, I Thessalonians, recommends that we “pray without ceasing” and “give thanks to God in all things.” 

     I have had repeated times in my life where this aspiration towards feeling grateful felt exceedingly difficult- particularly for me in the arenas of emotional security and finances.

Sometimes, it took considerable effort for me to find some facet of my life where I could feel thankful, and express to God my thanks for the gift of life, of love, of existence. 

     Experientially, I know that these feelings of estrangement and alienation are harsh and a resistant obstacle. However, over the years of struggle and trial, my perceptions have gradually changed, as I have humbly I found it necessary to question, to doubt, and even to despair at times. 

     These times of testing compelled me to look deeper for my answers, and with persistence, valued insights began to reshape my awareness, and my consciousness of the good of God.

Slowly, my assurance grew into a greater appreciation of life, despite its challenges, as I gratefully became more aware of an attending grace;

and that the necessary gifts of faith and gratitude returned to me, and they have proven to be deeply healing, and eventually transformative.