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
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