The Healing Power of Gratitude

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day. We have much to be thankful for, but most of us take our freedom and abundance for granted. We grumble and complain about minor issues. We know thinking positively is healthier for us, but we still grumble. We must learn to give thanks in every circumstance. We must learn to practice gratitude.

David, the author of the Psalms in the Bible, did this. In the midst of intense difficulties he burst forth with gratitude for every blessing. At times he wonders where God is, yet he continues to practice gratitude.

Thomas Edison, the genius inventor, lost his laboratory in a blazing fire in December 1914. The next morning, walking in the smoldering rubble, he said, “There is great value in disaster. All our mistakes are burned up. Thank God, we can start anew.”

There is a legend about a day when the sun didn’t appear. It was dark at eight in the morning, still dark at nine, ten, noon. By four p.m. people had gone to their churches to pray for the sun to return. The next morning crowds gathered to watch the eastern sky. When the first rays of sunlight streaked the sky the people burst into cheers and applause. They felt so grateful for something they had always taken for granted.

Minor annoyances of daily life are often more difficult to look on with gratitude than are major trials. We rise to meet a tough challenge yet let petty annoyances drag us down. Gratitude is still the key. If we count our blessings every day we will be better able to recognize the smallness of the annoyances.

Learning a grateful attitude takes practice. This Thanksgiving Day let’s all practice gratitude and keep it up in the days and months ahead.

“Give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”  1 Thessalonians 5:18

Blessings, Dottie Parish