Gratitude

“If we are honest and confess our personal shortcomings, we have the opportunity to repent. We have the opportunity to increase our gratitude toward God. God will be receptive to our expressions of gratitude if we are sincere. Do we take time to thank God each time following recovery from an illness or surgery? Do we show gratitude to God continually for talents and gifts received during the course of life? Are we always thankful for prayers answered? Are we at peace deep within our hearts, minds and souls in our relationship with the Lord God?” (Father Rodney Torbic) 

“In a culture of transaction, the question concerning thanks is always framed in terms of “for what am I giving thanks?” We assume that a transaction has taken place – we have been given something and should therefore be thankful. It can be as though the giving of thanks is a payment for services rendered. Though it is entirely appropriate that we give thanks for what we have received, it is also appropriate (and important) to give thanks freely without regard for what we have received…To give thanks, purely as a gift and not as a transaction, is to enter into the gratuitous character of God Himself. It makes of us “Sons of the Most High.” We become like God. This is a habit of the soul. Grounding ourselves in giving thanks always, everywhere, (and for all things – or simply as an act of worship) draws the soul into union with the gracious God. Learning to give thanks apart from a transaction can also teach us to give to others without a transaction – expecting nothing in return (including meeting our expectations of usefulness and worthiness).” (Father Stephen Freeman)

“The fullness of life, by which we understand life that is characterized by peace, wisdom, joy, love, and humility, cannot exist without a genuine sense of gratitude. We may not always be aware of the need to be grateful, just as we may not always be thinking of the need to be compassionate, patient, and loving. But rooted firmly within our spiritual nature and marking out the contours of our souls, combined with the need for love and forgiveness, is the divinely implanted capacity to offer thanks…gratitude is so important to our psychic makeup, its absence is a serious spiritual malady…Gratitude and thanksgiving are basic components of Christianity, together with love and forgiveness…Gratitude is humanity's primary response to God. It is, at once, the adoration of the Supreme Being and the recognition that only because of the Creator of all do "we live and move and have our being’ [Acts 17:28].” (Fr. Alexander Garklavs)

“It is significant that we have to allow ourselves to be created by God and we do this by being thankful! We have to agree to become fully human and thanksgiving is our means to do this. When we are thankful we are growing into the beings God created us to be, we are growing into Christ. When we feel and express gratitude we actively participate in our own re-creation, namely, our salvation.” (Fr. Ted Bobosh)

“Following…the basic dynamic of the relationship between the Creator and the created, is the need for created beings to respond to the creative activity of God by allowing themselves to be created, an attitude that Irenaeus characterizes as thankfulness. If the intention of God is to create human beings ‘in His image and likeness’, the handiwork must give its assent to become human in the stature of Christ…Irenaeus seems to be picking up on a distinction within the opening chapter of Genesis, where every other aspect of creation is simply brought into existence by a divine ‘fiat’, while the work that God identifies as His own project, to make the human being in his image and likeness, is not completed until Christ’s own work as human, and now in those who respond in faith and thankfulness in Christ. (Fr. John Behr, St. Irenaeus of Lyons)

“Gratitude is strongest in times of want and weakest at times of abundance. This is one of life's greatest ironies…by sharing the little we have with guests, we find that God blesses us with the paradox of abundance amidst poverty…Listen to the stories of people who went through hard times, such as those who lived through the Great Depression or the years of World War II. Certainly there were horrible and frightful moments of terror that elicit pain. But enduring through those moments, one acquires immense appreciation for the simple things that make life possible. Genuine and deep gratitude are felt by all who endure and survive difficulties. Ironically, in times of abundance, gratitude is often lacking.” (Fr. Alexander Garklavs, Timothy G. Patitsas)

“The grounding of the Christian life is thanksgiving. If you cannot fast with thanksgiving, your fast will be of little use. The same extends to all Christian practices and commandments. The essential work of the Christian life is grateful thanksgiving….Anyone capable of thanksgiving is capable of salvation.” (Father Stephen Freeman, Fr. Alexander Schmemann)

“With the weight of such Christian Tradition behind us, we may wonder why we often lack any gratitude at all. We live in relative comfort and ease…Compared to other regions of the world, we are blessed in many ways. Yet all too often we succumb to envy and greed, craving more and more money, property, possessions, and fame. Perhaps in imitation of their parents, we see children developing greed early on in their development. ‘Gratitude is a fruit of great cultivation.’…Teaching children to say “thank you” is a good first step, but effort is needed to stem the easy acquisition of avarice and covetousness. An important facet of becoming an emotionally balanced adult is learning that gratitude is the secret to being content in life – to living in peace with oneself and in harmony with others. (Samuel Johnson, Fr. Alexander Garklavs)

“Giving thanks in all things is what molds us into giving persons who do not become possessed by our possessions. The more we have the more we cling to what we have….The giving of thanks is not a moral activity: like communion, it is a mode of existence. There is no Christianity that does not include the giving of alms. Sharing belongs to the ontology of the faith…Christ often spoke about giving to the poor. This command is salvific more for the giver than the receiver, but if more us did it the world would be so different…The truth is that, at the present time in our modern age, there is no lack of resources, no lack of wealth. The abundance of the world is overflowing.” (Sacramental Living Ministries, Father Stephen Freeman)

“Christian practice and piety always includes direct and implied reference to thanksgiving…’ through God's mercy the riches poured out on us are many, and our response to them can only be prayer and thanksgiving. Even if we spent our entire life in communion with God, engaged in prayer and thanksgiving, our recompense to Him would be as insignificant as if we had only just begun to pray and be thankful.’ While gratitude may be first offered for the material gifts which sustain our life – air, water, food, etc. … greater thanks is due to Our Lord for His spiritual blessings…’mortals should be grateful to the Son of God, who liberated us from the captivity in which we were held by death because of our sins. He destroyed death, by descending into hell, and freed those held in the tombs. Who will not acknowledge Him for His kindness to us mortal beings?’ (St. Gregory of Nyssa, St. Ephrem the Syrian, Fr. Alexander Garklavs)

“What is gratitude? Gratitude is that sweet disposition of love for God by which the reverent soul sees and feels the various benefactions of God, highly values every Divine benefaction, and turns them to the glory of God…Gratitude sees and recognizes God’s benefactions; it doesn’t overlook what has been received from the Lord. Thus, if we offer little gratitude to the Lord, then of course it’s because we don’t see His benefactions. How does this happen with us? A proud mind recognizes only its own merits and ascribes to itself what it has, even only what it thinks it has. Is it possible to expect grateful reverence for the Lord? Pride pays no attention to much that is received from above, dismissing it as a trifle unworthy of notice, while regarding other things it consoles itself, saying: “This was acquired by my own calculations, by my own skill.” Pitiful self-deception! I am poor, destitute, blind, and naked before You, Lord!” (St. Philaret of Chernigov)

“Also connected with a decline in faith is the depressed person’s loss of interest in life. He no longer rejoices in anything, he values nothing, and he pays little attention to anything. But life, in all its forms, is God’s most important gift to man, and it’s a great sin to have this attitude about it. A man will be happy only when he himself wants it, when he starts enjoying life. Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you (1 Thess. 5:16–18). Specifically, give thanks. Gratitude to God teaches us to value the gifts of life. Only that which is valued brings joy and happiness.” (Archpriest Pavel Gumerov) 

“During the Divine Liturgy, the priest says to God in a prayer: ‘For all these things we give thanks to You and Your Only-begotten Son and Your Holy Spirit, and for all the benefits known and unknown, seen and unseen, that have been granted to us’…When we realize His benefits to us, we ought to thank Him. But also, when we don’t realize and when we believe that we didn’t receive, we still ought to thank Him, because not receiving is also a benefit. We could have received and focused on ourselves, making ourselves gods, and lost our soul. And we could have not received, and the pain and sense of not receiving could help us stay focused on prayer, focused on God…“…it is worth realizing that if we are not grateful, if we do not give thanks to God for everything He gives us, we will miss out on things much greater than what we have already received, and we won’t even know it.” (Bishop Emilianos)

“The “work” we do is largely a state of heart from which all subsequent grace-empowered actions flow. That state of heart is best described as “grateful thanksgiving.” The Eucharistic life is the true existence of the Christian. The giving of thanks is the first of all works and the sine qua non of the spiritual life. Everything that proceeds from the giving of thanks works to our salvation. That which does not proceed from the giving of thanks tends to work to our destruction…“The grounding of the Christian life is thanksgiving. If you cannot fast with thanksgiving, your fast will be of little use. The same extends to all Christian practices and commandments. The essential work of the Christian life is grateful thanksgiving….Anyone capable of thanksgiving is capable of salvation.” (Father Stephen Freeman, Fr. Alexander Schmemann)

“…it is not pride that leads us to notice we have a special gift as a musician, a writer, an orator, or a caretaker of children. What is important for the Christian is to give thanks to God for our gifts while turning our faces toward Christ with gratitude, thankful for the opportunity to use our gifts in service to God and to our neighbor.” (Abbot Tryphon)

“Expressing gratitude serves to call your attention to the good things in your life. Almost everyone has both positive and negative aspects of their lives at any given time. It’s just the nature of human existence. In many cases, our current happiness or unhappiness isn’t based on the particular amount of good stuff and bad stuff in our lives. In many cases, our current happiness is strongly influenced by which stuff is commanding our attention and our thoughts. By thinking of the good things—parts for which you are presumably most grateful—those good things come to be more central to your thought process.”(Peter Vishton)

“Gratitude goes beyond the "mine" and "thine" and claims the truth that all of life is a pure gift. In the past I always thought of gratitude as a spontaneous response to the awareness of gifts received, but now I realize that gratitude can also be lived as a discipline. The discipline of gratitude is the explicit effort to acknowledge that all I am and have is given to me as a gift of love, a gift to be celebrated with joy.” (Henri Nouwen)

“…gratitude is not a type of feel-good escapism whereby we tell ourselves that things are fine when they really are not. Rather it is learning to see life in a new way, perceiving the good that may be obscured by the familiar context of the ordinary…There is a popular misconception that gratitude practices flow out of a prior attitude of gratitude. But usually it works the other way around: we have a grateful attitude because we have first chosen to engage in gratitude practices…Gratitude is not an attitude, just as exercise and dieting are not attitudes. Rather, gratitude is a practice—it’s something you do…“Gratitude is worth the effort since, once mastered, it is the one virtue that makes all the other virtues (and indeed everything else in life) much easier.” (Robin Phillips)

“Let us be having gratitude; that is, let us keep on giving thanks to God. For not only ought we not be discouraged at present things, but even show the greatest gratitude to Him for those future things,…It is possible to worship God acceptably by giving Him thanks in all things,…both in temptations and in their abatement.” (St. John Chrysostom)

“The spiritual person is the one who is grateful for everything. He is the one who receives everything with thanksgiving, and who knows that he has nothing except what he has received from God (cf. Jn 3.27). And from His fullness have we all received, grace upon grace (Jn 1.16)… The spiritual person has thanksgiving and gratitude in all circumstances, in everything and for everything. This thanksgiving is rooted in the firm conviction of God’s merciful providence and care in all things, in the steadfast faith that “God works in everything for good with those who love Him” or, as the passage may also be rendered, “everything works together for good with those who love God” (Rom 8.28)…The spiritual man does not thank God only for what he considers to be good. Rather, he thanks God for everything, even for what appears to be bad, knowing that God’s tender care is over all, and that the evil in this world—which is always present and inevitable (cf. Jn 17)—can itself be the vehicle for spiritual growth and salvation if rightly understood and overcome by the grace of God.” (Fr. Thomas Hopko)

“...do we know that practicing simple gratitude brings about happiness? Researchers testing gratefulness have discovered that it actually changes the brain and makes us happier. But gratitude changes more than brain chemistry, for it makes us better and kinder to others.” (Abbot Tryphon)

“The secret of a happy, joy-filled life is a grateful heart. Without a heart filled with gratitude there is never a possibility of a life of happiness.” (Father Thomas J. Paris)

“Being grateful does not mean that everything in life is perfect, but that we look at life as a whole and receive with gratitude all the goodness in it…When it comes to our spiritual gifts, the need for a grateful heart is foremost.” (Abbot Tryphon, Marianne C. Sailus)

“Let us remember at all times that God makes Himself known to us in order to bless, heal, protect, and illumine us. To worship Him in gratitude is our natural response.” (Dynamis

5/1/2014)

“May God’s grace elevate our gratitude and keep us from every form of envy and dissatisfaction. Let us never question what God gives us, especially in relation to what He bestows upon others.” (Dynamis 8/6/2014)

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