Submitted by Fr. Peter Ullrich, St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church, Tarkio
These reflections are inspired by an article by Daniel Horan that I read about Thanksgiving, the holiday we just celebrated last week. Some bemoan the great commercialization of nearly everything in our society in recent years. But at its core, Thanksgiving is a good moment. It’s a good moment to stop, take a deep breath, if you will, relax however briefly with families and loved ones, and be grateful. At least that’s what we all hope it is. Yes, it’s the first of the “holidays” as we like to say. The beginning of a special time of year leading to Christmas. But these few weeks are more and more filled with all sorts of hustle and bustle, fretting, rushing about, and more.
Back to Thanksgiving. The author suggests that certainly for us Christians (all denominations of Christians), this time beginning with Thanksgiving and continuing during what the churches call Advent, this time is the perfect time to do what he called a “gratitude assessment.” What has happened in our lives for which we are grateful? How has God been present to us in our experiences with family, friends, at work, at school, in all that we do? And we can look ahead too, to see what lies in store – where is the Lord leading me? What opportunities await?
The idea here isn’t new. The point is how can we cultivate a discipline of learning “to see God in all things and open ourselves to a spirit of thankfulness…” That leads to the idea expressed by a monk named Brother David. He states: “if you want to be happy, be grateful.” His position is that gratefulness makes us happy, and not the other way around. How often do we see people whose lives have plenty of challenges and yet they are truly happy people, truly grateful people? If we can learn to see every moment as a gift, and to treasure those moments, the experiences we are given, the opportunities, and be grateful for them, then we are on the road to real happiness. To do this we have to take the time to pause in our hectic lives, take a moment to slow down and be still. Then we have to look around at our lives, the many good things we experience, that we see the sounds, the sights, the warmth, the love of others. We have to stop, look, and listen for the good. That will show us what we can be truly grateful for. And then we can go forward. Then we can share the love, goodness, concern we know with others. This is grateful living.
It starts with a moment of quiet. A time to see what good there is around us. A time to be truly grateful, and a time to share that with others. This is the beginning of being truly happy. “In all things give thanks” (1 Thessalonians 5:18)
