Gratitude for the Holy Places

Over the past several weeks, I've been talking with colleagues and friends about what and when and how and why they practice gratitude. It has been interesting to see how different people respond to these conversations, and to see what I can learn from the ways that others share their gratitude to their communities. I have many colleagues who send several thank-you notes a week (some send several a day) to parishioners, colleagues, volunteers--those with whom they work on a regular basis. I do this to some degree; after large events where individuals spend a lot of time to make something cool happen for their community, whether that event is a youth mission trip or a spiritual retreat, I will thank those involved for their efforts. But the nature of setting up a practice of thanking others several times a week means that a person ends up sending notes of gratitude for cleaning out the fridge after a potluck, or for saying a kind word to the grieving friend, or for praying for others, or one of many small but important tasks that happen in my line of work. As I have been writing letters of gratitude, this different method of thanking others begs the question of whether all gratitude is the same. How do we serve others, and how to we serve ourselves by being grateful in multiple, multifaceted ways?

What I am learning from my practice is that letters of gratitude require that I "go deep", that I reflect on the entire span of my relationship with others so that I can fully recognize and acknowledge the many different ways that individuals have affected me. It takes some time. And it forces me into a different heart space than my normal routine. It's the same emotional space that pastoral emergencies require. Gratitude is not an emergency, for sure, but emergencies require that I be fully present to what is going on; everything else--pettiness, fretting, doubt, complaints--those things fall away in the midst of urgent pastoral needs. being grateful requires that same presence in order for me to be able to write what I feel I must write. Gratitude is a holy place.

I think for the next several weeks, I will write short notes of gratitude, to see what ways that experience might be different. I'm sure holiness is there, too, and I'm curious to see how God shows up in those moments.

Summer Breaking

After a break of blogging this summer, I'm returning, so very grateful for the wonderful, supportive friends in my life. I love the gift of celebrating a new marriage between two friends, and the kindness they shower on me. Check out this week for a new post!

In the meantime, check out this awesome gift from the happy couple: