Good Like Medicine - Micha Boyett<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A couple of weeks ago, the Wall Street Journal published an article that proves why Thankful Tuesday is important.\u00a0 Not only does it have a \u201cHow Grateful\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/michaboyett\/2010\/12\/good-like-medicine\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Good Like Medicine - Micha Boyett\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A couple of weeks ago, the Wall Street Journal published an article that proves why Thankful Tuesday is important.\u00a0 Not only does it have a \u201cHow Grateful\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/michaboyett\/2010\/12\/good-like-medicine\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Micha Boyett\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-12-10T08:01:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"michaboyett\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"michaboyett\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/michaboyett\/2010\/12\/good-like-medicine\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/michaboyett\/2010\/12\/good-like-medicine\/\",\"name\":\"Good Like Medicine - 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{"id":996,"date":"2010-12-10T00:01:54","date_gmt":"2010-12-10T08:01:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mamamonk.com\/?p=996"},"modified":"2010-12-10T00:01:54","modified_gmt":"2010-12-10T08:01:54","slug":"good-like-medicine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/michaboyett\/2010\/12\/good-like-medicine\/","title":{"rendered":"Good Like Medicine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

A couple of weeks ago, the Wall Street Journal <\/em>published an article<\/a> that proves why Thankful Tuesday<\/a> is important.\u00a0 Not only does it have a \u201cHow Grateful are You?\u201d test<\/a>, it testifies to research we don\u2019t have to hear to believe: Grateful people are happier people. Remember how your mom told you your face would stick in the sad position forever if you didn\u2019t fix it into a smile?<\/p>\n

We all know that\u2019s true. We\u2019ve all encountered the grouchy elderly person and thought, surely they haven\u2019t always been this <\/em>way. In my saccharine college days, when I sang a song about everything and lived in a musical of naivet\u00e9, I wrote a little ditty about negative people. It may or may not have been titled \u201cNegative Head\u201d and it may or may not have ended with: \u201cBig minus sign on TOP of your head!\u201d (I was that cool. I was.)<\/p>\n

Want to know why gratefulness is good for you?<\/p>\n

\u201cAdults who frequently feel grateful have more energy, more optimism, more social connections and more happiness than those who do not, according to studies conducted over the past decade. They\u2019re also less likely to be depressed, envious, greedy or alcoholics. They earn more money, sleep more soundly, exercise more regularly and have greater resistance to viral infections\u201d (Melinda Beck, \u201cThank You. No, Thank You<\/a>\u201d).<\/p>\n

Since my son is sick again for the third time in three weeks (and since I feel my asthmatic wheeze rising up to attack me), I will refrain from believing that gratefulness has given me greater resistance to viral infections (or maybe I just haven\u2019t been grateful enough? That\u2019s definitely a possibility.) But I love when spiritual practice actually results in tangible, physical benefits.<\/p>\n

\u201cA cheerful heart<\/strong> is good medicine,\u201d says Proverbs 17:13.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness<\/strong>\u201d (Colossians 2:6-7).<\/p>\n

\u201cLet the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful<\/strong>.\u201d (Colossians 3:15)<\/p>\n

\u201cI will praise God\u2019s name in song
\nand glorify him with thanksgiving<\/strong>.
\nThis will please the LORD more than an ox,
\nmore than a bull with its horns and hooves.\u201d (Psalm 69:29-31)<\/p>\n

I tend to think that there\u2019s a reason our thankfulness will please God more than whatever sacrifices we can offer on an altar. God loves us and he wants us to live lives of hope, joy, peace, fulfillment, satisfaction. It\u2019s easy for me to grumpily list my sacrifices, those oxes and bulls I\u2019ve slaughtered and dragged to a stone table, hoping that they\u2019ll prove my value to God. I can fixate my mind on them at the end of the day: What I gave up for the sake of my boy or my in-utero baby, what I suffered in the presence of the meanies (the parking cop who yelled at me, the lady in the hospital lab who wouldn\u2019t give me my shot even though I\u2019d been waiting for 40 minutes). But if I\u2019m really listening to the Lord, my heart will know that what God wants isn\u2019t my laundry list of what I\u2019ve endured. God wants me to remember what I\u2019ve been given.<\/p>\n

So, no, it\u2019s not Thankful Tuesday. But you should read this article<\/a> anyway. And before I add something else to my Christmas list (or my sacrifice list), maybe I should make a list of what I\u2019m grateful for. (I\u2019ll go do that now.)<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"