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The Whole "Thank You" Thing

11/30/2015

2 Comments

 
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    My Facebook friend Cindy asked me a question in a Facebook comment on my previous post:
    Patti, Meister Eckhart, a 14th Century Dominican, theologian, philosopher and mystic says that, "If the only prayer you were to ever say in your life was 'Thank you,' it would be enough." Why, do you suppose, did he say this?
   
Well, Cindy,  I guess, upon thinking about it,  I'd say I suppose he said it because, along with being a Dominican, theologian, philosopher, and mystic, Meister Eckhart was probably also a student of human behavior and as such had likely observed that people generally feel gratitude only at times when they are the recipients of good things or feel happiness in their life.  However Meister Eckhart  might also have subscribed to the psychodynamic principal  that behavior precedes feeling; and so he could have believed that practicing gratitude - by praying 'thank you"  even when one wasn't feeling particularly happy or thankful about anything -  would cause one to feel gratitude,  which, when genuine, begets other virtues as well, such as  humility and an awareness and appreciation of the good things in life, be they ever so simple, common and immaterial. 
     Also, an unadorned "thank you" as a "blanket prayer" works as an acknowledgement that every aspect of one's existence is a gift from God, which is by extension worship, or the acknowledgment of God's  omnipotence.  I expect that Meister Eckhart, being a believer, would  have considered this acknowledgement to be a human obligation of great importance.
    
On the other hand, there seems to be a pervasive attitude among many us that the good things - be they material or immaterial - we are fortunate enough to possess are a sign of God's favor upon us personally.   It's fashionable for people not to pray their "thank you" prayers only in private silence but to let others know that they are grateful for being among the chosen recipients of God's blessing.  Thus one often hears people with a cushy existence making declarations about being "blessed".  
     The problem is, then, that going around telling others that we've been blessed by God because of our good fortune and in fact believing it to be true, the purpose of our "thank you" prayer becomes not our acknowledgement of God but God's acknowledgement of us.  After all, if God favors me with good fortune then God obviously approves of me, and if God approves of me then whatever I'm doing and thinking is obviously right and therefore cannot be argued against because if God is for me then who can be against me, and if you're against me it means you're against God.  Right?
     That line of thinking, which you might recognized from the campaign speeches of some of our political candidates, is rooted in the belief -  subconscious in some, conscious in others -  that one is in fact superior and more deserving than others who are less "blessed" than oneself. 
     Which brings me back to my original quandry:  how does one reconcile giving thanks for being a "have" in a world full of "have-nots"?
      What would Meister Eckhart say?

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2 Comments
Cynthia
11/30/2015 04:16:38 pm

It seems to me, Patti, that you are conflating two things: gratitude and the myth of the "prosperity gospel." There needs to be some clarification of terms. Gratitude that is not genuine, is not gratitude, just as gold that is not genuine, is not gold. It is something else entirely. And, although it would be presumptuous of me to speak on behalf of Meister Eckhart, this much I will say that I feel he would agree with, gratitude is the mother of all virtues.

There is no doubt that there is, in our Christian culture, the myth of the "prosperity gospel." It is being heavily promoted in evangelical Christian churches and it works pretty much as you've described. I'm incredibly "blessed" ergo G_d must be rewarding me for my goodness, or something along those lines. If you are not "blessed" G_d must not be favoring you. My only response to this is that Jesus pretty much definitively debunked this misguided thinking in just about every word that came out of his mouth that was recorded for posterity. I say pretty much because there are some alive today, the holders of the myth of the prosperity gospel, that obviously disagree with me. But the evidence is overwhelming in my favor.

I believe you are very familiar with the many ways he turned the self righteous Pharasees on their heads for this kind of thinking, which also ran rampant in his day, so I don't need to belabor the point here. The fact that it has been resurrected and is being promoted is because it feels good to the people who hear it. It allows them to excuse a multitude of evils with a clear conscience. If it were this easy to dismiss one's obligation to the poor, no wonder Jesus said it would be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the kingdom.

Gratitude has nothing in common with the prosperity gospel. A grateful heart is humble, unassuming, and responds in kind whenever possible, a servant to all. The words to several songs come to mind:

It all goes back to You, anything I do,
I know enough to know,
I'm nothing on my own,
It all goes back to You.
I know where I began,
I owe You what I am
It all goes back to You.
http://youtu.be/vzjOuu50Odg

Now I'm in an attitude of gratitude
Having the privilege just to be with You
Giving You credit cuz credit's due
I'll never forget You.
You gave me this attitude of gratitude
Now life is so precious since I found You
Living without Your love will never do
I'll always love you.

For all of the others that will come after us,
We'll leave them a legacy of our Love...
http://youtu.be/SWgnPDvRiAM

Creation tells a story, that began so long ago
Of love that longed to share its Life
In hope that Love would grow
The sun repeats each morning
the story is retold
And just in Love's re-telling
new chapters yet unfold...

Love that's freely given
Wants to freely be received.
All the love You've poured on us
Can hardly be believed.
And all that we can offer You is thanks,
All that we can offer You is thanks.
(Darryl Ducote)

A grateful heart easily enters into the divine flow of Love. It does not hoard. It bestows its blessing on both the "deserving" and "undeserving" alike. It clings to nothing but G_d. It is able to receive in direct proportion to its willingness to be emptied; that is, its willingness to pour itself out onto others. All others. It is like the rain in an old Arab saying. The nature of the rain is the same but it grows thorns in the marsh and flowers in the garden. Meaning, it does not discriminate.

We are asked, no, compelled, not to judge. We cannot see into another's heart. The fact that some buy into the myth of the prosperity gospel should not deter us from cultivating an attitude of gratitude. Words can be co-opted. We need to focus on our own response to the Love that has been freely given to us and leave the rest to G_d.

Reply
Patti
12/1/2015 06:00:18 am

Very interesting!

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