Who are you grateful to?

Gratitude is a wonderful thing.  And I ran into a video (below) that illustrates this beautifully.  I’m not saying it did, but it might have brought a tear to my eye.

But…

There’s a big “but” that is critical to understand.

There’s a problem that creeps up and the problem is a simple one:  Who are you grateful to?

Look, when you practice gratitude you think about something you’re grateful for and then you write it down, or in Hailey’s example in the video below, take a picture.  Something like: “I’m thankful for my dog” or whatever it is.

In secular practices, but even Christians can do this, the emphasis is placed entirely on being grateful.  In other words, the focus is on you and how you feel.  Which is fine… You can’t be grateful without that, so don’t get me wrong, that’s not my complaint.  But it’s incomplete if that’s where it ends.

It’s a little more obvious in an example: someone brings you a Starbucks.  You thank them for it.  You’re both “thankful for” the drink and “thankful to” the person who brought it.

More:

The Bible tells us that there’s also Someone else who’s there, that you can be grateful to as well.  The Almighty.  Jesus is who sustains all things (Col 1:17, Heb 1:3).  Through providence He is the ultimate source of that Starbucks drink that was just brought by your friend.

Being “grateful for” definitely works and matters.

Gratefulness to the One Who Makes Life Worth Living is best.  Why?  Because it’s complete.  It’s recognizing and acknowledging the Creator & Sustainer, making room for Him in our awareness.  This is shockingly powerful.  This is both the goal and side benefit of meditation: a simple, ongoing awareness of God.  I propose that this is actually why the practice of “complete” gratitude is important.

So please, enjoy this powerful and heartfelt video with a great reminder in our busy lives.  That didn’t make me cry.  Not even a little.