Gratitude
A few months ago, during a fast and testimony meeting I spent some time thinking about a few things that I wanted. They were things that I felt were righteous desires but sought to know through fasting and prayer if they were truly goals worthy of pursuing. In my past experiences with trying to receive revelation, I feel that I have been most receptive to the Holy Spirit during my personal gospel study. My methods for studying the gospel usually include reading the scriptures, discovering questions, looking up references, researching what modern prophets have said, and perhaps most importantly writing down the answers.
Sometimes my questions are simple ones about historical events or individuals in the scriptures. Sometimes my questions come from the week’s Sunday School lesson. And sometimes they are based on the application of doctrine and principles of the gospel. Regardless of how simple or complex the question or answer might be, I feel strongly that it is my effort to make a record of them that allows the Holy Spirit to connect more directly. So, on that particular sabbath I turned to my standard routine for help. I started by making a list of the things I wanted. Then in reviewing the list I sought answers to my questions. Would these goals be worthy of pursuing? Would these decisions give my family the best opportunities? And another question that came through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Are these things on my list going to help me and my family build testimonies of Jesus Christ?
Asking a question like that stopped me for a minute, immediately some items on my list sounded more trivial. What better way to put things into perspective than to look to the Savior and remember what he said is of most worth.
After this pause I decided it would be better to make another list. This time instead of listing the things I wanted I decided to list some of the things I have.
I believe that it was by showing this effort, this small sacrifice of time to study and write, that allowed me to receive the blessing of perspective. To see things with new eyes. The earnest desire even bordering on anxiety that I felt for the things I had first listed was replaced with a sense of gratitude.
In my past there have been Sundays when I did not think of anything really specific that I wanted to offer a fast for, feeling blessed and content with what I had. And so, I felt justified in offering what I would call a fast of gratitude. Looking back on those days now, I hope that my intention was truly as humble as it might sound, rather than just laziness or lack of imagination. Because it doesn’t take much hard thinking to produce a list of blessings that we may desire for ourselves or others.
I have since learned that offering a prayer and fast of gratitude is absolutely a good thing. But taking the time to understand the many blessings that you desire for yourselves and for others, and still feeling an overwhelming sense of gratitude and then giving thanks through fasting and prayer is even better.
Through this effort I was also reminded that gratitude helps us understand that the purpose of fasting and prayer is not to present God a list of the things we want, but to give us the opportunity to know what he wants for us.
I was also blessed to understand that our tithes and offerings are not just given so we may receive blessings, they are given so we may have the opportunity to bless others.
I am thankful for spiritual experiences such as these that are constant reminders that God cares for me and will teach me exactly what I need to know in the very moment I am ready to receive it.
It was exactly one year ago that President Nelson gave the world a special message of healing. His video message is still available on the church website and social media. His prescription for the emotional burdens we carry was gratitude. So, we find ourselves one year later, society appearing to be much the same as it was at this time last year. But hopefully we are not the same. Hopefully we have found opportunities to grow through the application of his wisdom since then.
In his message President Nelson concluded that
“Counting our blessings is far better than recounting our problems. Though gratitude will not spare us from the challenges of mortality, it provides us with perspective on the very purpose and joy of life.”
These are two activities that President Nelson prescribes to “help us experience the healing power of gratitude”
1. He invited us for the next seven days to turn social media into your own personal gratitude journal. At the end of seven days see if you feel happier and more at peace.
2. Let us unite in thanking God through daily prayer.
We were invited to try these two simple activities and see if the burdens we feel are made lighter. We now have the opportunity to recommit ourselves to this invitation, to test the words of a prophet, and hope that by this time next year we will have seen how adopting an attitude of gratitude has made our burdens feel lighter and brought us closer to God.
In the April 2007 General Conference, Sister Bonnie Parkin taught,
“Gratitude requires awareness and effort, not only to feel it but to express it. Frequently we are oblivious to the Lord’s hand. We murmur, complain, resist, criticize; so often we are not grateful. Just as Laman and Lemuel criticized their father and brother Nephi, because they would not open their eyes to the dealing of that God who had created them.”
If you are experiencing feelings of hopelessness or despair, consider the amount of time you spend murmuring or criticizing and the amount of time spent expressing gratitude. We are often so quick to vent our complaints and frustrations to anyone willing to listen, but what better healing could come by instead venting our gratitude for our blessings. Just as murmuring will only induce further despair, gratitude allows our eyes to open to the richness of a loving God. We might be hurt or take offense to the words or actions of others, but they cannot take root in a heart filled with gratitude. A gracious person soon finds the weight of jealousy, anger, embarrassment, and selfishness rolling off their shoulders. Gratitude allowed Nephi to rise above the criticism of his brothers and proclaim,
“Rejoice, O my heart, and cry unto the Lord, and say: O Lord, I will praise thee forever; yea, my soul will rejoice in thee, my God, and the rock of my salvation.”
2 Nephi 4:30
Another example of gratitude’s triumph over despair is found in a story that many of you may be familiar with. In the 1940’s during the depths of World War two a Dutch family of watch makers found themselves in the middle of the greatest conflict in modern history. The history of this family and their experiences are portrayed through the eyes of the youngest daughter in a biography titled The Hiding Place. Living above the watch shop with their father, their mother having died at a young age, the young children grew up devout followers of their Christian faith regularly having family prayer and bible study and inviting all their friends and neighbors to participate, which they regularly did. By the time of the Nazi incursion into the Netherlands the youngest daughter Corrie had grown to become a skilled watch maker, running much of their family business, and acting as a youth leader in the local community. So as the first Jews began knocking on their door in search of help the family was eager to help, the father Casper remarked, “in this household, God’s people are always welcome”. Corrie and her family became involved in the Dutch resistance and through much danger sheltered many Jewish refugees in a secret room they had built in their home above the shop.
For several years this humble family gave shelter and aid to as many refugees as they could, until one day in 1944 a Nazi informant led to the arrest of the entire family. And so, Corrie, her older sister and aging father found themselves in prison where their father soon died, and the sisters were eventually sent to a forced labor concentration camp. There in the deplorable conditions of the overcrowded barracks with rotting straw beds and infested with biting fleas Corrie and her sister organized worship services and taught other prisoners using a bible that they had managed to smuggle in. In a moment of exasperation, rather than succumbing to despair the older sister Betsie prayed for the strength to bear their burdens exclaiming to God, “show us how, show us how.” Soon the answer was revealed to her as a scripture they had read that morning was brough to remembrance. The scripture was 1st Thessalonians chapter 5
“Rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, in every thing give thanks for this is the will of God.”
Corrie ten Boom
And so, the two sisters offered prayers of gratitude for the other women crowded into the room because it meant that more of them could hear the scriptures they would share, and Betsie gave thanks even for the fleas. Because the infestation and horrible conditions kept the guards away from doing their regular inspections allowing the sisters to read the Bible aloud and teach the principles they lived by. Through their examples of faith and charity other prisoners were converted to the Christian faith. In the middle of such pain and death these two were saved from despair through their humble manifestation of gratitude.
The name of this book is also a reminder of a scripture in Isaiah chapter 32, which I apply to ourselves by replacing a word, with the word gratitude.
2 And [gratitude] shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.
3 And the eyes of them that have gratitude shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken.
Living in this desert, in the drought that has been so severe with no sign of relief, we know how much it means to have a river of water in this dry place, and a shadow in the oppressive heat of summer.
In our moments of despair and contention, it might feel like a heavy burden to turn from our emotions and look up to God, but in so doing we could see the greatest thing we have to be grateful for, the thing that overcomes any sorrow we could possibly feel in our lives, is the gift of Jesus Christ.
What better way to show gratitude for the savior than by obedience to his commandments. What better way to show gratitude for our prophets and leaders than by exercising faith in their council.
Our prophet has told us this is something we need to do and has told us how. So let’s do it. Make a commitment to express gratitude to those around you. You might start by saying something simple like, “I’m thankful for you.” And you might go a little further and say something specific that they have done to bless you.
I give thanks to God for blessing me with the understanding that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. That he descended below all things and overcame them, not for himself but that we may be lifted up at the last day. And not just at the last day but he provided a way to be lifted up right now.
