An Attitude of Radical Gratitude

It’s Thanksgiving again, the time of year for getting together with family, for the gathering-in of loved ones around a beautifully appointed table groaning with a perfectly roasted turkey and luscious sides, smiling faces smiling ‘round. Social media and magazines highlight all manner of recipes for appetizers and sides; television food shows teach 15 ways to roast your turkey, 10 different stuffings to use, multiple desserts to tempt us to eat far beyond our hunger and rational ingestion. It’s like we have that Norman Rockwell painting etched in our minds, and that longing for family and belonging carved into our hearts, and somehow, this Thanksgiving will give us our deepest longing for love and family.

But where’s the part about giving thanks? Where’s the understanding of what lies beneath the annual day of thanks? Yes, we celebrate family and community and friends; and yes, churches hold Thanks-giving services and we mumble the obligatory prayer of thanks before we settle down to a few hours of overindulgence - but is that all there is? Is it enough to focus on giving thanks once a year?

Maybe, then, we can think about giving thanks once a month? After all, there are so many things to do; so much that draws our attention to more practical things, right? There’s work, and laundry and meal planning and grocery shopping; there’s driving the kids to school and their activities; there’s our volunteer and church activities, not to mention all the other mundane tasks of our lives that draw our attention and keep us madly busy day after day. Once a month should do it, right? Or perhaps if I’m really committed to being thankful, I could probably do it once a week - say, on a Sunday when I’m already in church, right?

Nope. I don’t think so. Not even close. I propose that if we really understood the power of giving thanks, of being thankful, of being grateful, nothing short of a radical attitude change would be sufficient.

You see, there’s a difference between thankfulness and gratitude. Being thankful is an emotion responsive to one act, one situation; an expression to something given or done to us, a reaction of pleasure, acknowledgement and yes - gratefulness. But truly being grateful is an attitude, a deeply held way of looking at life and circumstance. Gratitude is a choice that transcends the circumstances that surround me, and alters my view of the world. True gratitude endures beyond the single gift or gesture, and goes deep into the heart, transforming the mind and forever altering the heart-response to life itself.

The word “radical” here is more than just taking an extreme position, though that certainly is also true; but I’m using it here in one of its earliest meanings, as something “vital to life," from Latin radicalis "of or having roots.” A true heart attitude of “radical gratitude” is vital to a life well-lived; to a sense of ongoing, overflowing grace and gifting from an awesomely generous God that loves without reservation, without condition, without end.

Radical gratitude is a heart attitude that gives thanks for all things, at all times. It’s an attitude that faces life head-on with the same boldness of giving thanks regardless of circumstance. It’s a heart-stance that responds to each event, each blessing, each tragedy, no matter how difficult or how broken, with a whisper of “thanks”. Giving thanks in times of overflow, thanks in times of want, thanks in times of heartbreak, thanks in times of blessing. Such an attitude is not predicated on rational thinking, or on a transactional relationship with God, but is based purely on taking God at His word: His love is unconditional and always perfect, always given, no matter how life looks or seems to us in any given moment. He is always good, all the time - no matter what.

Radical gratitude is a powerful transformative power, taking our hearts and both softening and strengthening them at once so that no matter what we experience, we do so from a deeply rooted, grace-filled place of love that endures through all life circumstances.

Radical gratitude begins with seeing that all of life is a gift; that the sunshine today is a gift, and that the raindrops pouring from heaven tomorrow are also gift. I train my heart to be thankful even when my mind sees the mess around me. In every situation, I acknowledge the blessing or pain of the moment, and whisper thanks. I may mumble it through tears, or shout it with joy, but there is intentionality in facing each moment with a word of thanks.

Radical gratitude is an attitude that recognizes the holy connection of all things: stars and moon and sun and galaxy; man and fish and birds and the creepy crawlies of the wild; rock and sand and sea - all connected through the love of the Divine Creator who continues to spin creation up and out and beyond our understanding. When I approach life from a cosmic perspective, my attitude shifts away from me to One Who is far greater than I. Giving thanks for the cosmic as well as the mundane brings me out of myself, and though I cannot possibly understand the vast complexities of universes and life, this shifting focus to the “other” is what is so transformative. It is hard to be sad or depressed or angry when a word of thanks is forever on our lips. It is impossible to be fearful or anxious when the heart is intentionally tuned in to gratitude as a lifestyle.

Radical gratitude is not a “Pollyanna” view of life; gratitude doesn’t fail to understand the deep sorrows of this world. On the contrary, radical gratitude allows one to come alongside the sorrow, the tragedy and the heartache, and say “Regardless of circumstance, I can find this to be grateful for. Regardless of circumstance, God is still good. Regardless of circumstance, I still choose love.”

An attitude of radical gratitude is bold, brave, and brash, refusing to accept the material “seen” world as the final word, but instead sees beyond the veil to the heart of God.

On this Thanksgiving Day, go beyond the turkey-thanks: think about adopting an attitude of radical gratitude, and come to enjoy the benefits of true thanksgiving all year long.

Happy Thanksgiving.