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Creative Writing, Faith and Writing, Journaling, Quotes, Reflections, Writing 101, Writing Prompts
Lent Photo-A-Day (February 10 – March 27, 2016)
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Day 5 — Gratitude
So here’s the deal. I think gratitude has gotten a bad wrap etymologically. The dictionary claims that gratitude is a noun. But I see gratitude as an action verb.
Think of it like receiving a present. The “transaction” isn’t really complete until you say “Thank You” to the giver. For me, being grateful is never truly felt until you can express it by paying it forward to someone else.
I am constantly grateful for the many blessings in my life (like my washer and dryer!), but once I recognize that feeling of gratitude, what do I DO with it? Just collect it and save it for a rainy day when I’m feeling down? That works for some people, but not for me. I feel that being grateful should change something inside me, in my heart, my life that can be manifest in the world around me.
In scripture Jesus was constantly running into folks who went away grateful. For example, ONE of the ten lepers he healed and the Samaritan women at the well who thought she was giving HIM a drink of water. And what did they do with their gratitude? The leper went and told a priest he’d been healed. The Samaritan woman went and told her village she’d met someone who told her everything she’d done in her life.
For me, I need to do the same thing. I need to act in faith and go on to become who or what someone ELSE can be grateful for.
This is Lily Kostopoulos, daughter of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins hockey team captain Tom Kostopoulos, helping to fill bags of food to be distributed to those in need for Thanksgiving at a distribution center in Wilkes-Barre Township, Pennsylvania (2015). This, to me, is what gratitude looks like.
Have you been grateful enough to show YOUR gratitude lately?
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As we express our gratitude, we must never forget
that the highest appreciation is not to utter words,
but to live by them.
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John F. Kennedy
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Picture Credit: www.washingtontimes.com
Lori Carlson said:
Beautiful post, Calen… I did a whole year of gratitude last year, merely in words. Now I wonder if I even learned the true meaning of the word… thank you for opening my eyes and giving me some food for thought!
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calensariel said:
I think we all show gratitude in our own ways. There’s as many ways to express gratitude as there are people!
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Lori Carlson said:
True… but I did treat it as a noun and not an active verb… so, that is what has me thinking 🙂
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calensariel said:
Gotcha. Yes, it might make a difference. Yes.
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Soul Gifts said:
Do gratitude and Grace go hand in hand ? Perhaps it is Grace that provides us with the alchemical ingredient to action gratitude 🙂
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calensariel said:
That’s a very interesting question. I wonder what Plato would say about that. Have to ask him…
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Soul Gifts said:
It feels so right to me. Will be interested to hear his take on it.
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calensariel said:
I will fire off a note to him and ask! (Sorry, I forgot!)
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calensariel said:
Plato’s response: I don’t know about the alchemical stuff but gratitude thankfulness I think are the narural response to grace recieved. Like a flower turning to the sun is “grateful” in its turning. There is not a sense of “ought” as though we ought to be thankful or gratefulness is owed. It is the flow. If I feel like I owe then perhaps what I am experiencing is not grace. ❤
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Colette B said:
Yay 🙂 I agree with you wholeheartedly that gratitude should be a verb rather than a noun – a word we DO with, rather than name by. Another fantastic, thoughtful response – I look forward to my daily visits to share lent and surprised by how much I’ve been missing or not noticing well while here, such as your MMM posts… by the way I knocked the playlist idea on the head but you might still get a referring pingback here and there along the way 🙂
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calensariel said:
Hey, I’m just glad if I’m not making a fool out of myself with these things!!! Thanks for the encouragement, Colette. ❤
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Colette B said:
{{{Calen}}} of course you’re not making a fool of yourself! You’re making meaningful consideration and communication of Lent 🙂 quite a wonderful thing 🙂
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S. Thomas Summers said:
…as a verb. Yes!!!!
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calensariel said:
😀
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