Confession & Catching Up, 50 Days of Gratitude: Days 32-36

No one likes criticism, I suppose, but those of us who grew up on the receiving end of it with regularity might shy away from it more than others. I have nothing to base that on (hence the use of waffle words like “might”) except my own experience, though, so take that with a grain of salt.

A few days ago I was listening to a podcast featuring one of my favorite authors and theologians. I won’t name them, because this isn’t about her, per se, but about an offhand comment she made on that podcast. She said something about not becoming one of those insufferable people who post about their gratitude. Whoa! Intentional gratitude as a spiritual practice and as a key to good mental health has long been a proven tool for those searching to remember what is good and lovely and well, gratifying, in life. I was surprised by the remark but less surprised by my response. I immediately assumed that she was right and I was wrong and decided I should find another Eastertide practice to replace my regular gratitude postings.

As a person who has spent a fair amount of time in Spiritual Direction and therapy (we should all have a spiritual director and a good therapist on our team) I could do the work of questioning why I heard her critique as correct. Maybe shedoesn’t like reading about gratitude, but my Eastertide practice isn’t about her. It isn’t, dear reader of this blog post, even about you. And it is less about me than you might think. What it’s about is Us.

Let me explain. Chances are very good that you are one of the people I’m grateful for, whether I’ve written about you here or not, or that you are somehow involved with/attached to something for which I am grateful. Without you or that thing you’re involved with/attached to, I have less for which to be grateful. It’s truly that simple. But I don’t often think about life that way unless I’m engaging with a practice like this one. When I do, it becomes a habit, and then I am much more likely to notice what makes my spirit thankful and give thanks for it/them/you. Somehow, doing this for 50 days in Eastertide means I’m more likely to do it through the long Ordinary Time that follows and into Advent and Christmas-tide and Lent and then….it’s time to be intentional and somewhat public about it again.

It took me 5 days to get from hearing the comment on that podcast to realizing that, although she might not want to hear any more lists of gratitude, it’s still more than okay for me to keep one.

For these 5 days, here are 5 things I’m grateful for, with apologies to….no one. 

1. Strawberry shortcake

2. Cut lilacs in a vase on the kitchen windowsill

3. Sweet tea

4. Birkenstock shoes (my feet love them!)

5. You