New Church Life November/ December 2015 | Page 7

Editorials practicing thankfulness One of the faculties that make us human is the capacity for joy, and what would joy be without a sense of gratitude for the things that bring us joy, and their source? Thanking the Lord for the blessings He has bestowed upon us is not just something we should do, but need to do in order to fully appreciate those blessings. A life devoid of thankfulness would be a sad life. As the Writings explain, the Lord wants us to approach Him in a state of humility, worship and thankfulness – not for His sake, but for our sake. This is because in these states the Lord can draw us away from the love of self and the evils which that love leads to, which stand in the way of the heavenly peace and joy which the Lord seeks to bring into our lives. (Arcana Coelestia 5957) The things we are thankful for are things that bring us happiness. These include both natural and spiritual things, but from the Word, and from experience when we think about it, we know that natural things alone do not bring happiness – or at least not the deep and everlasting happiness that the things of heaven bring. In fact, even the pain and loss we experience in this life are made, in providence, to serve in our spiritual development and help prepare us for our eventual entrance into the eternal happiness of heaven. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” (Deuteronomy 8:3; and verse 4:4 in both Matthew and Luke). It is the good of truth, the fruits of a life lived in accordance with the teachings of the Word, that bring the deepest and most lasting happiness. And of course the presence in our lives of the Bread of Heaven Himself. Practicing thankfulness, then, is tied into the whole process of regeneration, which draws us more and more into the order of heaven, in which thankfulness is an essential element and recurring theme. We can’t make ourselves feel thankful, but if we attend faithfully to the work of regeneration, thankfulness will come to us naturally and spontaneously. Think of the life of religion as being like a beautiful tapestry, with thankfulness as a thread that runs through the whole work. Thankfulness is 553