When you offer gratitude, to whom or what are you speaking?
I believe there is some kind of benevolent creative force in the universe — let’s call it life.
Or, Life.
Something that powers up all the systems, that grows fruit on trees, that keeps the earth spinning and the sun rising and the stars suspended in the sky.
Science has explained all this — or a lot of it anyway — but mostly science describes the mechanics.
The fundamental force behind it all remains a mystery.
And I believe that’s as it should be.
When I offer up thanks and gratitude, this is where it goes: to the mysterious, creative, life-force that animates all living things.
Call it God if you want (though that’s not the word I typically choose to use).
Often, my gratitude goes out to people I have never known — nameless, faceless folks who came before me or live alongside me but whom I will never meet.
They are not nameless and faceless to their loved ones, of course.
But they are often invisible to me.
For instance, the people who built the road that I live on and the house that I live in.
The inventors of modern plumbing, fixtures, and hot showers.
The creators of the printing press and readable fonts and then, much later, the personal computer.
Authors that I may never meet.
People who grow the food I buy at the store. (I’m grateful that I get to greet some of my local growers at the farmer’s market!)
Sometimes, when I offer gratitude it is to or for a specific person I have known. And in those cases, I try to tell them directly. Though I confess I am not nearly as consistent with this as I would like.
What about you? When you offer up gratitude, where does it go?
Leave a Reply