As Christians, we have so much to be thankful for. This World Gratitude Day, a two-minute video about the world’s most grateful man reminds us why gratitude is an important Christian characteristic
Gratitude is hard to place sometimes.
I can thank the waiter and the chef for my meal, or the drivers and farmers for the ingredients, but who do I thank for food?
Where do we put the feeling of thankfulness for glorious sunshine on a wedding day? For a good rain shower on the tomato plants?
Lots of people discover this happy confusion after the birth of a child: Where do I direct all this joy? As GK Chesterton wrote in Orthodoxy (Moody): “We thank people for birthday presents of cigars and slippers. Can I thank no one for the birthday present of birth?”
Just as electricity needs to find earth, gratitude needs to find heaven. Lighting will strike as low as it can without obstruction and thankfulness is similarly homeward bound. It longs to settle above.
In a cynical culture like ours, thankfulness is deeply profound
At Speak Life we’ve made a short comedy film for Harvest. Mr Thankful, is a two-minute burst of gratitude. It’s a day in the life of the world’s most grateful man.
What would it look like to have a man ring out in thankfulness on a workday, showing gratitude on the commute and thankfulness in the office? He baffles those around him with his effusive appreciation.
In a critical or cynical culture like ours, thankfulness is actually profound. There’s something contagious about joyful thanksgiving too. Seeing someone thank others so freely and so cheerfully lifts our eyes.
It’s easy to be cynical and complaining comes naturally. Ours is a world of criticism but thankfulness gives us a taste of the world to come. The classic pre-meal prayer says: “For what we’re about to receive may the Lord make us truly thankful.” As Christians, we’ve already received Christ. Our hearts overflow with thanksgiving as a joyfully confused world watches on.
