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First of all, there’s always something to be grateful for. ALWAYS. No matter what. In fact that’s when gratitude really helps, really counts. When it looks like you’d have to be crazy to be grateful. Like right now. If you are living in Ferguson, Missouri, or, Cleveland, Ohio, or anywhere the newsfeed finds you and tells you this world is getting worse by the second.
Don’t believe it. The Bible, that well worn, wonderful often misused book says two things that always help me out. One is: “Hold fast to that which is good.”¹ The other is: “All things work together for good.”² All things. Like the fact that there was no indictment in Ferguson means the problem of racism isn’t going to go away, or going to be solved by a trial of one man. We still need to face it, talk about it, have the conversation (to quote Junot Diaz). I’m grateful for that. I’m grateful that, to quote from another book that always helps me out, “Truth is always the victor.”³ Because in my lifetime racism has gone a long way towards going away, but we all know how much farther we have to go. Seriously. We all know.
And what is Truth? What is real? Good is real. Good is what’s true. So, for starters, it helps to be grateful for any bit of good in your life. Come on, you can do it. You can think of something good right now and give thanks for it. That tiny act will lift your spirits, lower your blood pressure, give you the courage to keep on going if courage is what you need.
In two days it will be Thanksgiving, which is not about stealing from the Native Americans, or over eating, or football or shopping at big box stores. It’s about giving thanks, something we can all do a lot more of. This country was founded on life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And gratitude will get you happy faster than anything I know.
If you’ve tried it—being grateful—then you know what I’m talking about, so get to it. If you haven’t, if you don’t know the power of gratitude, then I implore you to try it. If you have shoes, be grateful for them. If you have a friend, be grateful for him. If you have family (yes, I know, not always the top of anyone’s grateful list) be grateful for them. Just because, just because. Not inspite of how bad things seem to be, but instead of giving in to despair.
Let me know what you’re grateful for, and let me know how you feel after that simple act, silent or spoken, of giving thanks.
But do it. You’ll be doing yourself, and the world, a world of good.
1 I Thessalonians 5:21
2 Romans 8:28
3 Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy
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