Appreciating the Good Around Us

By Bob Satterwhite

First Church of Christ Scientist, Bainbridge Island

January, 2004

Now that the traditional Holiday Season is behind us and some of us have perhaps already forgotten our New Year’s Resolutions, wouldn’t it be a good time to review just what this special season has meant to us, and our families. What can we carry forward that will continue to bless and sustain us? The most important idea that comes to my mind is Gratitude!

A very simple definition of gratitude is, “an appreciation of benefits received.” But is that enough to express the depth and breadth of what the concept of real appreciation should mean to us? Certainly we are grateful to get in the ferry line early enough to make the next boat. We are grateful that mail hasn't yet been picked up when we have an important letter to send. We are also grateful that we live in a community of many, more or less, like-minded individuals.

Maybe gratitude is too general a term to move our thinking to another level of appreciation.  So how about a definition of that all encompassing concept?  My dictionary tells me that appreciation is, “an ability to grasp the nature, worth, quality, or significance of an idea…an enjoyment and admiration of a thing’s excellence to judge with a heightened perception or understanding.” 
 

Now that makes a lot of sense to me, “to judge with a heightened perception…” Couldn't that also be a definition for spirituality?  Is it enough to simply look at our human experience as a continual interplay of chance and circumstance? My faith suggests to me that there is a bigger, more encompassing motivating force that is continually available to all of us.  I believe in an all knowing, all seeing, all-powerful God who created me in His image and likeness.   That I believe is the bottom line for a heightened perception or appreciation of who I am, who you are, who we all are!   And isn’t that what spirituality is all about?

If we are continually being grateful for the reality of who and what we are in God’s eyes, doesn't if follow that we should also be more alert to, and conscious of, the good that is all around us?   Sure there are problems of all sorts, some very critical, and perhaps even dire, but if we can each day begin with a deep appreciation for what God has given us, we can face more easily and more confidently the challenges that we daily meet.   And in proportion as we consistently do this, we can find the ideas we need, the answers to our prayers, the guidance, more often than not, to be at the right place at the right time.

I do not believe in chance!   My sense of spirituality is that when I tune into God’s infinite channel I will find what I need when I need it.   But just as a radio or TV receiver needs careful tuning to obtain the clear messages that are already there, we too need to practice each day, each hour, each moment the tuning of our lives.   A renowned spiritual leader, Mary Baker Eddy, in a book she entitled, “Science and Health with Key To The Scriptures” wrote:

  “Gratitude is much more than a verbal expression of thanks. Action expresses more gratitude than speech”…What we most need is the prayer of fervent desire for growth in grace, expressed in patience, meekness, love, and good deeds.” 


That makes a lot of sense doesn’t it?   How about making this year a year of heightened appreciation for all the good we enjoy and can share with others.