Someone said to me once that gratitude was like having windows in a room. When I questioned this, he explained that if you are in a room with no windows, you are not aware of the beauty of the scenery beyond the walls, but if you have windows, you can experience the pleasure of the view. He said gratitude is the quality of thought that makes you aware of the good that already surrounds you. There is always good. Taking time to appreciate it and say ‘Thank you’ enriches our lives.

“Research suggests that being grateful and expressing gratitude towards others can improve our happiness and quality of life. Gratitude enhances empathy, improves physical health, mental wellbeing, quality of sleep, self-esteem, and also has the capacity to reduce stress. Identifying what you’re grateful for, especially during challenging times, can help foster resilience and improve our wellbeing.” –Stronger Together – Expressing Gratitude, Tanya O’Shea, Managing Director, IMPACT Community Services.

Gratitude is a quality of love. Love is that quality that makes the world work right. When we make time for giving gratitude for the large and small things in our lives, then we are doing our part in making the world a better place while enhancing our own lives. That simple act of saying ‘Thank you’ and counting our blessings enriches.

Mary Baker Eddy, the Founder of Christian Science, encourages us to live the gratitude we feel. She writes on page 3 of her textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures:

“Are we really grateful for the good already received? Then we shall avail ourselves of the blessings we have, and thus be fitted to receive more. Gratitude is much more than a verbal expression of thanks. Action expresses more gratitude than speech.”

Please join us in giving thanks for the good in our lives and the blessings received at our Thanksgiving Service at 6.15pm on Thursday 23 November – corner of Macquarie & Bligh Streets, Barton (christiansciencecanberra.com).