Posts Tagged ‘gratitude’
“Give Thanks in All Circumstances”
St. Basil the Great was born in 329 A.D. An influential theologian who supported the Nicene Creed, he was one of the Cappadocian Fathers and a doctor of the Eastern Church. He was known for his prolific writing and his care for the poor. Basil lived out his deep faith in humble service. He taught…
Read MoreHelping Children Be Thankful
Almost every parent has been there: pressuring their young child to write the obligatory thank-notes to Aunt Charlotte and the next-door neighbor after Christmas or their birthday. But does sending those notes under mild duress make your kids really feel grateful? The fact is: we cannot make children be thankful. We can only make them…
Read MoreA Cycle of Grace
Written for Voices and Silences, 2003 Grace, Giftedness, Giving and Growth – these four words, from Clif Christopher and Herb Mather’s book, Holy Smoke!, prompted me to reflect on these themes in my life. For me, they flow in a cycle, a deepening spiral, which begins and ends with God’s grace. From God’s side, it’s…
Read MoreMany Thanksgivings
In Mutuality and Thanksgiving I said, “Thanksgiving is not a season. It’s an orientation of our minds and hearts that naturally flows into a lifestyle of generosity, of mutual giving and receiving.” But the process of giving and receiving is not only a two-way affair. As science-of-generosity researchers have noted, people who know others involved…
Read MoreGrowing Generous Souls Is Now Out!
I’m pleased to announce that my new book is now out: Growing Generous Souls: Becoming Grace-Filled Stewards! It invites church leaders and individuals to stop racing from one activity to another and instead to focus on being rather than on compulsive doing and consuming. The book includes reflection questions and resources to help people move…
Read MoreFully Simply Enough
“Enough” does not have to be barely enough or just enough – it can be fully enough! Growing Generous Souls talks about “an ethic of enough” as contentment (not complacency): the sense of sufficiency that prompts people to act responsibly toward others in gratitude for all they have received. Sometimes what is fully enough is…
Read MoreLiving from a Grateful Heart
“I give thanks to You, O God,” we pray, along with the one who prayed Psalm 86 aloud in worship thousands of years ago. For us, in that moment of realization we are face to face with the Divine, we want to pray this not just with words, but also with our actions: how we…
Read MorePrayer and Gratefulness
Prayerfulness is what counts in life, not individual prayers, says Benedictine Brother David Steindl-Rast. In Gratefulness, the Heart of Prayer, he says prayer is an attitude of the heart that can transform everything we do. We can’t be saying prayers all the time, of course, but we ought to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17),…
Read MoreRooted, Grounded, Grateful
A sense of belonging is essential. Even for our “I Did It My Way” culture, almost all of us need to have a feeling of connection with others, that we’re not out in life all alone. More than that, most of us need to know that we come from somewhere, that our personal history has…
Read MoreGrateful for Ordinary Days
In our church service a while back, the worship leader said she had looked to see if that date was a special church day. Nope, apparently it was “just an ordinary day.” God knows there are times when things are going so badly, we wish it could be an ordinary day, she continued. But…
Read MoreGratitude’s Three Foundation Stones
Gratitude is not just a feel-good approach to life. There I sat at a Greater Good Gratitude Summit, a gathering to promote the evidence-based practices of gratitude. Dr. Robert Emmons, coordinator of the event, said gratitude is “a heightened and focused intellectual appreciation” where we focus on the abundance of our lives instead of on…
Read MoreBreathing Our Gratitude
It’s a wonderful experience when people clap and celebrate the fact that you’re alive! I got to walk the Survivors’ Lap again this weekend during our county’s Relay for Life: something I plan to do annually for the rest of my life. While I celebrated 3½ years healed from cancer, there are cancer fighters, survivors…
Read MoreGratitude and Resilience
“If you must look back, do so forgivingly. If you must look forward, do so prayerfully,” said poet and activist Maya Angelou. “However, the wisest thing you can do is be present in the present . . . gratefully.” Citing this phrase, church historian, consultant and author, Diana Butler Bass wrote a marvelous article on…
Read MoreRecovery, Symbols, and Gratitude
It’s been two-plus weeks now since coming home from hip replacement surgery. Needless to say that’s major surgery. I was hugely grateful that my immensely popular surgeon (whose operations are routinely booked several months in advance) slipped me into a cancellation, after a year of increasing pain. Each day is an improvement in minor but…
Read MoreI Am Blessed!
Last week I got to hear Rev. Dr. Alex Awad, pastor of East Jerusalem Baptist Church, professor at Bethlehem Bible College, and retired missionary for the United Methodist Church. A Palestinian Christian who was born in Jerusalem, he is a direct descendant of those first disciples at Pentecost. But because he is a Palestinian, he…
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