Posts Tagged ‘gratitude’
I 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…
Read MoreGratitude at Work
Thanks in large part to University of California at Davis professor Robert Emmons, the field of “Positive Psychology” has grown by leaps and bounds since the early 2000s.1 Positive Psychology is the scientific study of gratitude and its benefits, in fields ranging from anatomy to sociology, affecting both the quality and the length of a…
Read MoreA Thank You Plan
Saying thank you is often a spontaneous thing. When someone does something for us, especially unasked for or at a cost to themselves, we naturally want to thank them, in words, by doing something for them, or by “paying it forward:” giving in some way to others. Most people don’t give in order to be…
Read MoreAssets and Liabilities
“Generosity is a spiritual disposition, not a quantifiable percentage of income,” said author James Hudnut-Beumler in Generous Saints. Generous people are grateful to God, affirming that “they know their worth comes from God, and not from money – not from money earned, hoarded, spent to purchase things, or used to exercise power.” 1 As I…
Read MoreBeauty and Gratitude
Looking up, I watch the high, bright clouds slide smoothly across e. e. cummings’ “blue, true dream of sky.” What beauty God makes with creation! Gratitude gives us solid ground to stand on, but as long-armed as it is, it can never reach as far as God’s grace extends. Like the clouds, I want to…
Read MoreGrateful in Wildfire?
Thank You, God! Thank You, thank You. For the past two weeks I have been checking a website every few hours on the spread of a voracious fire immediately surrounding our foothills home. So far our home has been spared. But dozens of homes and scores of outbuildings have burned down, amidst the thousands of…
Read MoreThe Gratitude Effect
“Gratitude has the power to heal, to energize, and to change lives,” said researcher Robert Emmons at the June 7th Greater Good Gratitude Summit. “We’re here to celebrate the science and the spirit of gratitude.” While gratitude may be a familiar topic in religious circles, these comments came from a professor of psychology at U.C.…
Read MoreGenerosity – Gratitude
When it comes to spelling out “Generosity” with our lives, the “G” is definitely gratitude. It’s easy to feel gratitude to God in this season of Epiphany, when we celebrate in worship all the ways God has shown God’s love to us, especially through Jesus Christ. But also in these quieter post-Christmas days, we can…
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