THE GRATEFUL PERSON

Thomas Merton (1915-1968) wrote, “To be grateful is to recognize the Love of God in everything He has given us – and He has given us everything. Every breath we draw is a gift of His love, every moment of existence is a grace, for it brings with it immense graces from Him. 

Gratitude therefore takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to new wonder and to praise of the goodness of God. For the grateful person knows that God is good, not by hearsay but by experience. And that is what makes all the difference.”
It is interesting that not only hearsay is weak in making God real and good… so is scripture… unless we have the experience that goes with scripture. Otherwise God is just the God of a book. But experience makes God real and makes us grateful.
“It was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God.” Jesus