Today's Journal
GRATEFUL
If we can live in a certain level of gratefulness, we can more easily live in thankfulness. The two terms are similar. Thankful generally refers to a feeling of appreciation for some gift or benefit we have received. Gratefulness is a deeper and formed way of thinking and behavior that causes one to live with gratitude and recognition of the Father’s blessing and presence as we go along. We are thankful that we have become grateful.Living gratefully is to live above the critical, pessimistic, down and dark, bitchy, everything is falling apart and ‘woe is me’ thinking. Part of the normalization of evil is constantly having to comment on it, make something of it, projecting it as ‘what’s happening now’ and the ‘way things are.’ Some folks might need to change channels.
Grateful people fight evil with good. We fight through the hard places with rock-solid faith and confidence. We let beauty fight ugly. We allow light to destroy darkness.
“Gratefulness has three steps: not missing the opportunity, appreciating the opportunity, and using or enjoying the opportunity.” David Steindl-Rast, Benedictine Monk. He also said, “The root of joy is gratefulness...It is not joy that makes us grateful; it is gratitude that makes us joyful.”
“A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.” Jesus