The Liberation of Gratitude

Looking Back at Wickaninnish Beach

I took the last month off from writing my blogs to catch a breath and push ahead on a new book idea on The Spiritual Seasons of Faith. My refuge began on Vancouver Island, a place of respite for me, especially in the wildness of Tofino and Ucluelet. Walking the strands of the Pacific West Coast Trail and hearing the perpetual roar of the breakers pummelling the shore was truly music to my ears. Such a wondrous piece of creation reminding me of the Psalmist’s words:

The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord, over mighty waters. (Ps 29:3)

With every crashing wave on the beach, I was reminded of gratitude’s power——reminders to be grateful in this very moment of time and space.

Be grateful now.

Give thanks in this moment—a new mantra for me as the summer season wanes and the fall season gathers its colourful powers.

As I think along these lines I retrace the insights of Regis College Professor Mary Jo Leddy, who pens the following words in her excellent book Radical Gratitude:

In the culture of money, we tend to have a ledger view of life. We add up the pluses and minuses and try to account for our lives. In the process, we miss the amazing fact that we even have a life to add up. We take being alive for granted and move on to a cost-benefit analysis. Lost in the process is the incalculable mystery of simply being alive. The liberation of gratitude begins when we stop taking life for granted.

“The liberation of gratitude begins when we stop taking life for granted.”

I suggest that her exhortation is a powerful truth for living well:

• Stop taking life for granted.

• Be grateful for the wondrous gift you receive by simply being alive.

My suggestion (if you can) is to walk along a beach, hike a trail, drift through a park and give God thanks for your very existence—be liberated by gratitude! And as Leddy comments “move beyond a monetized ledger view of life” which only limits our horizons and sadly leads us into a “culturally induced dissatisfaction.”