Wherein is Gratitude Important?
Lupan Point Sunset, Janice DeCovnick
Where have you been when you have felt the most grateful for what lies before you?
Moments of profound gratitude nourish us in ways we cannot begin to understand. I felt that way most recently while visiting the Grand Canyon. Beams of light from the sun were nearly blinding me as we photographed sunset from Lupan Point on the South Rim of the canyon.
The waves of light tingled a sensation in my being, a sensation of reverence, of awe, of gratitude for being here right now.
Why do I remember that moment? Because it took my breath away. Sometimes we are given such beauty that we can’t quite believe it, can’t quite take it all in. Suddenly it swoops over our consciousness, and we are flooded with gratitude. We want the moment to never end. We want to live in the gratitude, in the awe, in the wonder at what we have been given. We choke on the tears that flow lest we lose sight of what was so complete. We hallow the place, the moment.
The beginning of hallowing is gratitude for a blessing, like when a sunset overcomes our consciousness and we blink back tears of deepest appreciation. The act of appreciation is a moment of holiness. It is a moment of true appreciation for the wholeness of life. We often live our lives in chopped up bits of this and that, but we are actually entwined in the whole stream of life. We need to be reminded of the gift that is present to all of us, of the beauty that surrounds us every day. The beauty is in the moment. For that hallowed moment makes us feel beautiful inside.
A Moment of Forever, Janice DeCovnick
There are moments when the world is quiet, and we can just be. We can just be with what is, whether it is a glorious sunset, a child at play, snow falling softly from the sky, or a song playing in our hearts. Our hearts grow soft in the “being with” whatever is happening. We grow quiet and grateful for what we are experiencing. We want to stay there without end. The joy of those moments nourishes us for life.
Gratitude is such an all-encompassing experience that it literally turns our brains around. When we feel gratitude, our hearts signal our brains to turn on the positivity cognitions. In turn, the positivity cognitions turn down the negativity cognitions. The way we live is not designed to enhance positive thoughts. Horns blare. Cars screech to a halt, life is a hustle in so many circles. But the way is paved by our endowment – our capacity for gratitude – to strike a more harmonious and softer chord, one that invites, sustains, and renews a more positive approach. Gratitude invites an enduring experience of what is worthy.
Gratitude makes enduring experiences of what is worthy among groups of human beings, as well as individual people. When gratitude pervades a whole group of people, they grow warmer toward each other. They realize what is good about other members of the group and the group as a whole. They find in themselves and in the group as a whole what is worthy. They feel grateful to be part of the group and feel that the group is a deep blessing in their lives. They also feel positively toward other groups who may be quite different. Rather than disdain or demean others, gratitude in a group spreads a feeling of deep appreciation of other people ensconced in their own groups. Gratitude forms links of communal appreciation, which when expressed, honors, sustains, enhances the lives of people in other groups.
In the Depths of the Canyon, Lee DeCovnick
Gratitude enhances feelings of holiness within a group and encourages groups to see the holiness in other groups who are different than themselves. Gratitude helps groups stand together in the whole stream of life, to see themselves as part of the larger whole. This is the consciousness we strive to create when we set out to care for the Earth. It is the consciousness of creating hallowed community, a community that loves one another and loves the Earth as our communal home. The native peoples of our land have long understood the intimate connection between how we live, how we treat one another, how we live in the land. They do not see themselves as separate from the land and nature, rather as intimately entwined with all creation. Ten to fifteen years ago I was attending a conference in New Mexico. My husband came with me and spent one of his days chatting with the native peoples who were selling their jewelry there. They invited him to a very sacred festival the next day. He felt honored. The next day he drove out to the village and found himself overwhelmed with the sacredness of the ceremony. The earth thundered with the dancers and the drumming. He searched for the woman who had read his soul and invited him to this festival. Their paths did not cross. When he came back to me, he was profoundly grateful , he was changed in a subtle but important way. Something in that ceremony had had a hallowing effect that changed the way he saw himself and others. When we change how we see ourselves and others, the way is opened to honor where we all live on Earth.
“My husband came with me and spent one of his days chatting with the native peoples who were selling their jewelry there. They invited him to a very sacred festival the next day. He felt honored. The next day he drove out to the village and found himself overwhelmed with the sacredness of the ceremony.”
When we treat the Earth as sacred, a home, a garden if you will, we see ourselves as part of the whole that is Earth, that is life on Earth. We see ourselves as standing shoulder to shoulder with the peoples of the Earth, ready to protect her, to care for her, and tend her as our home. We all have the potential to develop this kind of consciousness, and it starts with gratitude for the blessing - the home - Earth is for us.
So wherein is gratitude important?
Gratitude for the blessing hallows.
The act of appreciation is a moment of holiness.
The joy of grateful moments of being with whatever is happening nourishes us for life.
Gratitude changes the way our brains function and invites an enduring experience of what is worthy.
These enduring experiences of what is worthy start individually but spread to the group and from one group to another, enhancing gratitude which enhances feelings of holiness.
Gratitude helps groups stand together in the whole stream of life among a hallowed community.
When we change how we see ourselves and others, the way is opened to honor, protect, care for, and tend the Earth, our communal home.
Kenya Lioness, Janice DeCovnick
When was your most profound experience of gratitude?
What did it change in you? In those around you? What was your blessing?
