You've heard it before but since you’re now hearing it again from me, you can and should anticipate a little ‘twist’ because well, you know how my brain works!
Some of you know that I follow several churches, pastors, preachers, and even a sage here and there. I mean, I’m looking for ways to follow Jesus and there’s a lot to be learned if you’re open to a variety of opinions.
This week, I watched a sermon from one particular pastor. When he preaches, I tend to turn a deaf ear. This is a struggle because I know that with every book, with every speech, within every moment of life, I can learn something. But this guy? He literally dropped me from this church. Well, I think he did.
I was donating regularly, and I watched every week. I received the church newsletter every time it was published. I received email notices when there was information that needed dissemination.
When Covid became a thing, and churches were no longer meeting in person, I received a call from this church. I talked with someone who had been given a list of parishioners, I am supposing. She was calling to ask if it was OK if we talked every week or so. We could catch up and pray together. I was impressed and agreed.
A few days later, text messages were exchanged. She was interested in the word ‘PODrishioner’ (I claim no credit for this clever word that explains a long-distance congregant) that I had used in our initial call. She seemed curious when asking what pastors and what churches were on my listening list. I supplied the names.
Ghosted is the current word for what happened next.
Not another phone call. Not another text. Not another email and of course, the newsletters had stopped as well.
They continued to accept the monthly donations. (Sorry - that comment was probably inhospitable)
OK then. This is quite the intro. I guess I needed to say something about the afront to my ego. Onward.
The I-don't-want-to-listen-to-this-pastor that had dropped me from the role of auditing (as good a word as any) was heading up the pulpit this week. I wonder if the groan was audible. Anyway, despite my internal self-complaining arguments, I complied with my commitment.
He began to speak.
“I have learned that a life flowing with happiness is not primarily based on what happens to us. The painful and the beautiful experiences do not fundamentally define us. The thread that weaves together joy is not circumstantially dependent. Instead, the attitude all comes down to unabridged, unfettered, undeterred gratitude. In a world filled with fear, hate and hopelessness there is no substitute for a posture of undiluted thankfulness.”
I knew that.
I KNOW that.
I needed to hear that.
He continued.
“It can become a catalyst that changes how we experience everything. Without whitewashing misery, it can help us see hope even in the midst of suffering and find the heartbeat of God. With the rhythm of our heartbeat matching that of God, we are given greater vision to see beyond our cynical minds - we are able to see and feel hope. With intentional gratitude we can overcome adversity even without denying the struggles of this life.”
Gulp.
An exercise that I was once given was to verbalize three things that happened during each day for which I was grateful. Each night, when head met pillow, I did that. It wasn’t difficult.
Until it was.
I would lay there thinking, “How is it possible that I’m having trouble finding just three things? There must literally be millions!” I would lay there thinking, “I can’t say that again. I say that every night! Of course, I'm grateful. But the exercise isn’t to pick three things and repeat them, it’s to find new things. Every. Single. Day.”
You see, repetition is a good thing, but it has two sides just like that coin: Heads on one side, tails on the other.
- Repetition helps us remember and incorporate improvements to life.
- Repetition also gets stagnant, boring, and routine.
- Aging
- Air conditioning
- Balance
- Blinking
- Coordination
- Flexibility
- Glasses
- Humor
- Knees
- Mail delivery
- Memory
- Microwave
- Muscles
- New Friends
- Nose Hair
- Pain
- Reflexes
- Refrigerator
- Roadways
- Sneezing
- Soap
- Taste buds
- Toes
Spending a great deal of effort to explain each of these items isn't required. You might have your own reasons. You will have your own list. The point is, there truly ARE millions of things for which to be grateful. Verbalizing these will help get you through the struggles you face. This is an exercise of intentionality mentioned above.
Gratitude is the arrow that pierces the expanding balloon of worldwide madness. It allows us to see the power of light and hope exploding in the darkness of the world.
"In a world filled with fear, hate and hopelessness there is no substitute for a posture of undiluted thankfulness.”
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