Gratitude

Here I am two days after Thanksgiving and still thinking about gratitude.  It might be a new record!  Hang with me here.

Recently I pulled an old pair of socks from the sock drawer and I noticed the feet were full of holes, really full of holes as in they had more holes than feet.  I realized the time had come to toss then, so I did, but reluctantly, with some regret.  That seems pretty mundane, I know, but I really liked those socks.  Really liked them.  Initially, after processing through wondering if I could find an identical pair (I tried, I can’t) I tried to dredge up a memory of the last time I wore them, and couldn’t.  Heck, I should have appreciated them more then, and each time I put them on.  (Yes, that is the Catholic Guilt a youth of catholic school and nuns trains you for.)

That got me to thinking of various songs and passages that go to that point – that I should be filled with gratitude for what is and treat each experience, each interaction, even each breath as if it were the last – because it just might be.  It seems a nice sentiment, but that last part is what I got hung on.  Yes, I should be filled with gratitude, but can’t I just stop there.  Need my gratefulness be tied to dark thought that what I am grateful for is ephemeral and might be ripped away from me in some tragic event?  Need I guilt my way to gratitude?

In this I was reminded of a quote from Thomas Merton: “Gratitude takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to new wonder.”

Gratitude is vigilant awareness and responsiveness to the wonder occurring around me – and there’s plenty of that.