Thought for the Week: Thankfulness
G Gordon Steel reflects on approaches to thankfulness
Thankfulness is a recurrent theme when, Sunday by Sunday, I come into Meeting for Worship: thankfulness for the friendship of my partner in life, for my parents, family and friends, for a reasonable level of health, for the comfort in which we live, for enjoyment of music, art and the countryside. There is thankfulness for the opportunities for service.
There are so many things to be thankful for. The room in which we meet on Sundays is quiet and comfortable, and often the sun is streaming in. Feeling grateful in this way does not need any explanation; it is just there. This must be what we mean by spiritual experience.
When I was a young Methodist we were told that the church service always had a few basic elements. Praise is first and foremost: Praise to the Lord the Almighty, the King of creation… Compassion is another essential element: caring for the poor and disadvantaged, wherever they are. Rejoicing is a third: corporate happiness, often celebrating God’s gifts and salvation through the person and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Rejoicing is, also, one facet of a wide sense of thankfulness.
When expressed in church, however, thankfulness is usually in the form: We thank you Lord for all the blessings of this life… And here is where I begin to have a difficulty. How often do we hear survivors of a tragedy saying, when they are interviewed: Thank God. I am so grateful to God for saving me.
I am sure that I am not alone in thinking, when I hear this, what about the others? If thousands of men, women and children have been swept away in an earthquake, thanking God for the survival of a few forces the question: why were the others not also saved? There seems to be no correlation with value or quality of life. And furthermore, if God had the ability to save a few, could he not have brought himself to prevent the earthquake in the first place? The dilemma is an ancient one and will not go away.
What I am seeking to express here is the contrast between these two approaches to thankfulness. They both share the same basic spiritual experience. But one goes further and attributes what happens to us, and the source of the experience, to a guiding hand. For many Christians this brings an extra sense of warmth and comfort, but this comes at a price: an intellectual predicament that some of us wish to avoid.
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