Thank You!
























On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee.

As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”

 

In a recent study at the University of California at Davis, participants were divided into three groups. Each was told to keep a short journal. One group was to record five things they were grateful for during the week, another was to record five things that made them mad, and the third was told to record any events that affected them, good or bad. Ten weeks later, participants in the group that recorded things they were grateful for felt better about their lives as a whole and were a full 25 percent happier than the group that recorded bad things. They also reported fewer health complaints. 

 

I am not surprised. We have a general tendency to focus on the negative: on the bad things that happen in our lives. This leaves us feeling that God bypassed us when he was pouring out his blessings upon the world. However, when we focus, instead, on the good things that happen to us, we realize how wrong that belief is, and how tremendously blessed we, in fact, are. But let this not be a theoretical proposition. Let us put it into practice and discover the truth for ourselves.

 

Consequently, may I suggest that we write down three things that we are grateful for at the end of each day. And then express our gratitude to God, which we often fail to do. In today’s story of the ten lepers, only one returned to give him thanks. I imagine the ratio is pretty accurate because we are generally not a grateful people. For instance: After attending a church service how many of us think of thanking the choir for the worship, or the pastor or priest leading the service? We find it easier to be critical, don’t we, complaining about the bad singing or the terrible homily instead of being grateful?

 

So, let us cultivate this habit of being grateful and inculcate it in our children too. And once we start being grateful for the good things that come our way, let us also be grateful for the not-so-good things. This is not so much because Scripture advices us to “give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thessalonians 5:18), but because “we KNOW that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). 

 

And I bet life will start to seem really really good! And, oh yes, thank you for reading these reflections. And for sharing them. 

 

Watch the video of this reflection by Aneel Aranha here: https://youtu.be/AUd_AE3rsl4



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