OPreach
Dominican Preaching through Word and Image
Say Thank You Until You Mean It
I love this piece by Melody Beattie, and read it often, so as to remind me to the wisdom of Gratitude. We used it as part of our morning prayer yesterday, Thanksgiving Day, at St. Margaret Convent before going to the Ultimate Celebration of Gratitude: Eucharist. For the word Eucharist means Gratitude.
Say thank you, until you mean it.
Thank God, life, and the universe for everyone and everything sent your way.
Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. It turns problems into gifts, failures into successes, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. It can turn an existence into a real life, and disconnected situations into important and beneficial lessons. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.
Gratitude makes things right.
Gratitude turns negative energy into positive energy. There is no situation or circumstance so small or large that it is not susceptible to gratitude’s power. We can start with who we are and what we have today, apply gratitude, then let it work its magic.
Say thank you, until you mean it. If you say it long enough, you will believe it.
Melody Beattie in The Language of Letting Go
OPreach 
Thankfulness is the “midnight oil” we must burn until Christ’s return.
There are so many horrible things going on in the world; only by
remaining in a place of thankfulness, can we keep our spirits from a
place of despair. I am a nanny by profession. The day before Thanksgiving,
I had the children write an essay about things they were thankful for. They could
not name one thing! What are we teaching our children??? This was so sad.
Very excellent point.
It’s wonderful that we, as a nation, set aside a day for giving thanks. What we may miss in doing that is the opportunity to practice thanksgiving . . . and thereby teach it . . . . everyday. I remember seeing in many faculty rooms the poster that read, “Children learn what they live.” Perhaps we are not being daily models of thanksgiving. I remember standing many days in the cafeteria as the children picked up their food and reminding them to say thank you – always surprised that those basic manners hadn’t been learned. So, it’s something we all need to do on a regular basis for their sake, and the sake of our society.
Thank you for your comments! And today I am especially grateful for the beautiful weather we are having in the SF Bay Area.
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