The Power of Gratitude
By Anne Cooling
I was reading this morning an account of St. Paul being imprisoned for healing a servant girl. In the prison, Paul and his travel companion, Silas, prayed and sang praises to God and through an earthquake, shaking the foundations of the prison, all the doors were opened and all the bands were broken and they were all freed.
Whatever seems to make us feel as if we are trapped or imprisoned by some material circumstance, the message here is the power of prayer and gratitude. If one were to look at the material circumstances, one would feel there was nothing to sing praises to God about. Shouldn’t we sing after God frees us?
Or was it the change of thought, heart and understanding from the material circumstances to the power of God that caused Paul’s God-given freedom to be realized. Prayer is all about a change of thought from the mortal picture to the immortal Truth of God and his power, God and His spiritual creation and with this turning of thought from the problem to the solution, we begin to find hope, comfort and more importantly something greater than the problem itself. This gratitude was based on spiritual understanding that comes from affirming God’s relationship to His creation and our innate freedom found in the kingdom of God that is within us.
When I have felt overwhelmed by something, the worries, doubts, fears all seem to try and enslave my thinking with an insurmountable problem. But, as I begin to pray, think rightly, higher, versus being engulfed in the problem, I begin to find the good, and starting with gratitude, helps me do this. I begin to see all that I have to be grateful for and this opens my thought for me to hear more inspiration from God, divine Mind, the source of spiritual understanding, that will shake the foundations of mortal standpoints with another perspective, a spiritual viewpoint. From this higher standpoint, I can bear witness to God’s law and omnipotence governing and this begins to change the situation, often in ways unexpected.
Gratitude quiets thought and we can begin to recognize the quiet, gentle ways God’s Love is releasing and freeing us from the problem to reveal to us a more perfect solution. The following hymn from the Christian Science hymnal (Hymn 146) sums this idea beautifully:
In God I find a precious gift
That knows no fear, no feud,
That glows so still, serene and pure:
The gift of gratitude.
It brightens all the paths of earth,
Reflecting Truth and right,
For gratitude doth steadfastly
Abide in heavenly light.
With confidence it hails each task,
With courage undismayed,
For naught against Infinity
Can ever be arrayed.
In seamless gratitude I weave
A silent, healing prayer,
With shining threads of ceaseless joy;
For man is God’s great heir.
So as we gather on Thanksgiving with family, friends, and in our houses of worship, utilize the power of this prayer of gratitude and praise. Start little, maybe start with a gratitude list, and watch how that grows big and changes things in you and in your life.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
The First Church of Christ, Scientist has a special Thanksgiving Service at 10am on Thanksgiving Day.
Included in this service, are readings from The Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, as well as inspirational songs, the President’s Thanksgiving Proclamation and expressions of gratitude from the congregation.
All are welcome to join us for this gathering. Childcare is provided
