Thanksgiving Thoughts

On good mornings, I wake up early and read the daily readings and a little reflection on them on the Laudate app on my phone. (On a side note: Catholic friends, get the Laudate app it's free and awesome)  Some mornings I'm coherent enough to actually get something from them.  And last week the words in this reflection kept coming back up in my mind.

"Gratefulness, another word which expresses gratitude of heart and a thankful disposition, is related to grace which means the release of loveliness.  Gratitude is the homage of the heart which responds with graciousness in expressing an act of thanksgiving.

Ingratitude is forgetfulness or a poor return for kindness received. Ingratitude easily leads to lack of charity and intolerance towards others, as well as to other vices, such as complaining, grumbling, discontentment, pride and presumption."

Several things spoke to me about this.

1. Was the way grace was defined.  The release of loveliness.  I don't think I could have described grace in a better way.  I have recently been knocked out by the amount of grace that I'm aware of in my own life.  I have found that through the last few months of trying to figure out if we can survive on Matt's salary alone and consequently being much less focused on stuff, I have been infinitely more aware of the grace in my own life.  Somehow having less stuff and more time has allowed me to realize the abundant release of loveliness that goes on daily in my life.  There's the concrete things like a roof over our heads and food to eat, but also the amazing, yet mundane things like John's adorable smile and laugh or the crisp weather that fall has brought to FL or the ability to call family on the phone to check in and feel connected and supported by other people.  Every now and then I just sit and feel knocked out by God's goodness.  For my health.  For my soul being totally at peace.  For the present moment and being aware of how good it is.

2. The point that gratefulness translates from a thought or a feeling into action.  I am realizing more and more that the more aware you are of the release of loveliness, the more you are open to acts of hospitality, kindness, and love.  I am by no means saying that I have perfected this or that I even understand it fully, but I have seen in those around me that gratefulness is directly related to contentment and peace and is expressed in loving actions.  Think about it?  Don't you just love to be around those people who are genuinely content and aware of their blessings?  Those people are such a breath of fresh air and usually willing to sacrifice anything for the well being of those they love.

3. I have never thought much about ungratefulness, but, unfortunately, I think it can be seen all over the place.  I think we live in a world where we can never have enough and things are never good enough. It seems that a lot of time we think the release of loveliness is an entitlement and is not realized as the ultimate blessing it is.  I'm guilty of this often, but I hope to take some time this Thanksgiving to stop and really meditate on all of the grace and all of the blessings in my life.  No entitlements.  God's choice to release all of this loveliness for me.

I hope that each of you have an amazing Thanksgiving.  And I hope that we all make gratefulness a way of being and not just a momentary thought.