Hi Everyone,
I thought that this was a very good thought-provoking message.
Vinny
----- Original Message -----
From: "BreakPoint with Charles Colson" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, May 16, 2005 10:44 PM
Subject: BreakPoint: When Gratitude Gets Radical, 5/17/2005
> BREAKPOINT with Charles Colson
> ------------------------------
>
> When Gratitude Gets Radical
> The Power of 'Thanks'
>
> May 17, 2005
>
> The notion of gratitude is hot these days. Search the Internet, and you'll
find
> more than a million sites about thankfulness.
>
> For example, university psychologists recently conducted a research
project on
> gratitude and thanksgiving. They divided participants into three groups.
People
> in the first group practiced daily exercises like writing in a gratitude
> journal. They reported higher levels of alertness, determination,
optimism,
> energy, and less depression and stress than the control group.
Unsurprisingly,
> they were also a lot happier than the participants who were told to keep
an
> account of all the bad things that happened each day.
>
> One of the psychologists concluded that though a practice of gratitude is
a key
> to most religions, its benefits extend to the general population,
regardless of
> faith or no faith. He suggested that anyone can increase his sense of
well-being
> just from counting his blessings.
>
> As my colleague Ellen Vaughn writes in her new book, RADICAL GRATITUDE, no
one
> is going to disagree that gratitude is a virtue. But, Ellen says, counting
our
> blessings and conjuring an attitude of to-whom-it-may-concern gratitude,
> Pollyanna-style is not enough.
>
> What do we do when cancer strikes -- I have two children battling it right
now
> -- or when loved ones die, when we find ourselves in the midst of
brokenness and
> real suffering? That, she says, is where gratitude gets radical.
>
> While they often mingle together in the life of a follower of Christ,
there are
> actually two types of thankfulness. One is secondary, the other primary.
>
> The secondary sort is thankfulness for blessings received. Life, health,
home,
> family, freedom, a tall, cold lemonade on a summer day -- it's a mindset
of
> active appreciation for all good gifts.
>
> The great preacher and once president of Princeton University, Jonathan
Edwards,
> called thanks for such blessings "natural gratitude." It's a good thing,
but
> this gratitude doesn't come naturally -- if at all -- when things go
badly. It
> can't buoy us in difficult times. Nor, by itself, does it truly please
God. And,
> to paraphrase Jesus, even pagans can give thanks when things are going
well.
>
> Edwards calls the deeper, primary form of thankfulness "gracious
gratitude." It
> gives thanks not for goods received, but for who God is: for His
character --
> His goodness, love, power, excellencies -- regardless of favors received.
And
> it's real evidence of the Holy Spirit working in a person's life.
>
> This gracious gratitude for who God is also goes to the heart of who we
are in
> Christ. It is relational, rather than conditional. Though our world may
shatter,
> we are secure in Him. We can have peace in times of pain. The fount of our
joy,
> the love of the God who made us and saved us, cannot be quenched by any
power
> that exists (Romans 8:28-39). People who are filled with such radical
gratitude
> are unstoppable, irrepressible, overflowing with what C. S. Lewis called
"the
> good infection" -- the supernatural, refreshing love of God that draws
others to
> Him.
>
> And that, more than any words we might utter, is a powerful witness to our
> neighbors that God's power is real -- and His presence very relevant --
even in
> a world full of brokenness as well as blessings.
>
> GET LINKS TO FURTHER INFORMATION ON TODAY'S TOPIC:
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