k, a great writer does not need to invent it but merely to translate it, since it already exists in each one of us. The duty and task of a writer are those of translator.
Testament words - “welled up” - have reminded me lately of one of my favorite watering spots. There’s a place where pipe reaches into underground springs and water gushes continually: it is one of my favorite spots in our family’s favorite campground of Temperance River State Park. That fresh cold water always delights me - I love the idea of drinking water filtered by God’s good earth, and the constancy of its flow thrills me. The seemingly endlessness and purity of the water gives me great joy, and reminds me of the importance of Source.The following quote also reminds me of importance of Source, and of my desire to be sourced in the Divine. (Oh, that I might be in God's love and joy!)
"Once I “know” God, that is, once I experience his love as the love in which all my human experiences are anchored, I can only desire one thing: to be in that love. “Being” anywhere else, then, is shown to be illusory and eventually lethal...
...the saints... knew with their heart that outside God nothing is, nothing breathes, nothing moves and nothing lives...this makes me aware that the basis of all ministry rests not in the moral life but in the mystical life. The issue is not to live as well as we can, but to let our life be one that finds its source in the Divine life.” – Henri Nouwen, P 49 Gracias
rue teachers are those who use themselves as bridges over which they invite their students to cross; then, having facilitated their crossing, joyfully collapse, encouraging them to create their own.
and listens
into a more holy
“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.”They -
- felt 25% happier than the others
- were more optimistic about the future
- reported fewer health complications and fewer symptoms of physical illness
- spent nearly 1.5 hours more per week exercising
Are you wondering who they might be?
“They” are some of the participants in a 10-week study (Emmons, R. A., & McCullough, M. E. (2003). Counting blessings versus burdens: An experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 377-389. PDF) randomly assigned to one of three tasks. At the end of each week, the participants were asked to describe either
1) five things they were grateful for that had occurred in the past week, or
2) five daily hassles from the past week, or
3) five events or circumstances that affected them in the last week without accentuating the positive or negative aspects.
"They” - those with the positive outcomes listed above - were group #1 who recorded the things they were grateful for.
In a second similar study, participants were divided into the same three groups, but asked to reflect and record daily for two weeks. The results were similar with the exception of no effect on physical symptoms or health behaviors (possibly due to the short nature of study?) but with the self-reported effect of increased helping of others in comparison with the hassles participants.
This fascinates me. The simple act of recounting and recording that for which we are grateful has significant benefit! It seems simple: but remembering to count our blessings is not always easy. We need to choose to do so. We need to choose to lean into recognizing (this is gift!), and receiving (I’ll accept and appreciate this gift!). G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936) is cited as a model of this recognition of gift; he wisely wrote
“the test of all h
appiness is gratitude...around every corner is another gift waiting to surprise us, and it will surprise us if we can achieve control over our natural tendencies to make comparisons, to take things for granted, and to feel entitled.”
In addition to a gentle reminder to remember that we have been gifted with much (especially many of us in the US), I also want to invite us to do more than remember: to increase in helping, allowing our gratitude to move us in sharing our gifts. My daughter Rebekah recently wrote a blog post that both discomforts and inspires me. In her challenge I am challenged; she describes a Guatemalan family who finds happiness in the midst of extreme little, and then encourages us to let them teach us gratitude, AND to not let our justification
of “but they’re happy” stop us from seeing their great need and giving out of our great abundance. She says,
“In really seeing the miracle in their ability to live with less and choose happiness I was challenged, and hope others would feel the same, to do more to serve, live with less and still be 'happy'. Their ability to have perspective and find joy doesn't negate my responsibility to ALSO live with deep perspective, as if their happiness somehow justifies their daily injustices.”
For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, if it is received with gratitude. – I Timothy 4:4
