A Continuous Stream of Gratitude

I thought a lot about gratitude this week.

I thought about how, in pagan times, people would give thanks to different gods for varying aspects of their lives, for example by giving thanks to the sun god for sustaining life and the rain god for watering their crops. Being at the mercy of natural forces, people saw gods at play in every aspect of their lives.

I thought about how all that changed with the advent of the one God of Judaism; how one formidable God replaced an assembly of characters, making it so that all thanks and petitions were aimed in one direction.

I thought about how it is now, how the further away people are from natural elements, the less likely they are to make the correlation between God and their lives.

And, finally, I wondered about where it goes next. Would it be possible to do both, be grateful to the web of life while also thanking the creator and sustainer of life?

My Thought Experiment

In that spirit, I conducted a little thought experiment.

Sitting at my desk, I noticed the things around me.

I wondered. Should I go straight to the source in gratitude for my chair, my computer, my table, my pens, my whiteboard, and so on?

Wouldn’t I be cutting out individual parts of creation, that is, the people who made all these things I was enjoying and the elements from which they were made?

If I truly appreciated creation, shouldn’t I be thankful for all of it?

Shouldn’t I be thankful for the natural elements from which these things on my desk were made, most of which I could not name?

Shouldn’t I be thankful to the miners who dug up these materials, the people who transported and processed them, the designers and engineers who created my computer, and the software programmers who wrote the code that allowed me to type at lightning speed while listening to my favorite classical music at the same time?

How far back should I go? The creation of the Earth? The Big Bang? Further?

When I took time to appreciate the role that all of creation played in that moment—from the origins of the universe, to the creation of the elements, to all the people who had done mental and physical work to create my surroundings—it became crystal clear to me that everything is connected to everything else.

On some level I knew it, but, at that moment, it was evident that every moment was a combination of a multitude of things coming together and that it would be very difficult for me to ever be alone in this world.

I also realized that it was both possible and feasible to combine methods of gratitude, that I could be thankful for individual parts of creation while also appreciating the creative and sustaining force behind all of it.

The Experiment Went On

While on Thanksgiving break, I kept on going.

Driving to my destination, I was grateful to the construction workers and taxpayers who made our trip possible, along with the carmakers, engineers, oil producers, and all the natural elements. The list of things that were involved with what I would normally consider a mundane trip seemed endless.

For the rest of the outing, it seemed that everywhere I looked, at every single moment, there was a long list of things to be thankful for.

At times, my experiment felt completely overwhelming, like I could never fully comprehend the complexity of the moment.

I am a mere man and could not keep it up the entire time we traveled, but every moment I could, every moment that would otherwise have been considered boring or normal, I spent on being grateful, and not just for one thing, but for everything.

The feeling of interconnectedness that it created was truly magnificent. I realized how much richer I felt when I combined gratitude for each and every element of creation with my gratitude to the source.

I Plan to Continue

It’s such a simple little idea, and by no means original, I know, but I plan to continue with this stream of gratitude whenever I can and allow it to enrich my life.

Even now, as I type these words, I am thinking of the long line of people who have contributed to the language I use as a tool for conveying thoughts, the elements from which my computer is made, the wide network that allows me to post these words on the Internet, and you, the person reading this article.

For all of it, and much more, I am grateful.

Gudjon Bergmann
Author & Interfaith Minister

Picture: Pexels.com