Gratitude is a powerful force
If the only prayer you ever pray is ‘thank you,’ that would be sufficient.
Meister Eckhart
The wisdom of 13th-century Christian mystic Meister Eckhart still rings true. Giving thanks is act of prayer. It’s also a powerful act.
Once a year, we Americans set aside a day to remember such wisdom and power. Whether around the tables of our own homes or in shelters for the homeless, in five-star restaurants or simple cafes, we gather for the sole purpose of saying “thank you.”
That makes Thanksgiving our most radical national holiday. Every day, we’re bombarded with constant reminders of our “need” for a new car, bigger house, next pair of shoes or latest smartphone incarnation. But Thanksgiving offers a different message: We have enough.
To give thanks for our blessings is to remember we already have blessings — lots of them. Dayneu, as our Jewish sisters and brothers would say — “It is sufficient.” It’s a revolutionary concept. It’s the power of thanksgiving.
Giving thanks also has the power to change our relationship to those blessings. To give thanks for something is to remember it’s a gift. Not something to be grasped or taken for granted. Not dependent on our good work or good looks. Whether it’s the blessing of family and friends, our health or our job, the blue sky of New Mexico or the smell of piñon — it’s all a simply a gift for which to give thanks. Finally, taking time to give thanks reminds of blessings we didn’t even know were blessings. The children of the church I serve help me remember that truth. This fall, our kids explored what connects all of us as God’s children and also how God made each of us different. In our Thanksgiving services Sunday, they shared their prayer of thanks for those connections and differences: God of this whole world, we thank you for calling us to life and into life together. ¡Gracias a Dios! We thank you for all the things we share in common as your children: We all need to eat and we all live on Earth. We all need water and oxygen. We are all mammals, and we are all unique. We all have to sleep and we all have common sense. ¡Gracias a Dios! And we thank you, God, for all the ways you’ve made us different: We don’t all like the same food — and we do not all like homework. We are different genders, and we have different skin color and eye color. We all have different fingerprints —
and different teeth. We speak different languages, and we like to play different games.
¡Gracias a Dios! I have to admit I’ve never given thanks for the fact we’re all mammals or that we all need oxygen and sleep. I’ve also never thanked God that we don’t all like homework, and I’m not sure “we all have common sense.” But that’s the power of giving thanks. It opens our eyes to things we never considered, from the blessings we share as human beings (like living together on Earth) to everything that makes us unique and interesting (like different languages — and teeth).
Given the division and fear in our country and world, I can’t think of a Thanksgiving when we have needed the children’s thankful vision more than now.
To know we have enough and are enough. To see our life as a gift, not something to be grabbed. To consider both our common needs and our unique differences as blessings — and therefore to see one another as blessings. All that can happen when we take time to give thanks.
Meister Eckhart was right — simply saying “thank you” is a powerful way to pray. It’s also a powerful way to live, individually and as a nation.
A blessed Thanksgiving to you.
The Rev. Talitha Arnold is senior minister at the United Church of Santa Fe.