Gratitude, not only a response, but a way of life

This statement fills my mind with a whole bunch of questions....

• Does this make sense in our world-when we see life as portrayed in the media?
• Does gratitude come naturally?
• Is gratitude the attitude we should or could take towards life?

I wonder if gratitude comes naturally- My feeling is that it does'nt flow naturally from our hearts, but that it is a value that needs to be discovered.

It was something that St Paul discovered as he began to follow Jesus, and it is quite evident in all his letters, as we read them in the New Testament, that he began to live a life that was characterised by a deep sense of gratitude. In his testimony in the first chapter of 1Timothy, Paul writes that he discovered that Jesus had faith in him,Paul! I wonder -would it not make a huge difference to our own lives if we realised that Jesus had faith in us-you and me! Jesus says,"I know you can do it!""Wow!"

As I began to reflect on that during this week it had a very positive effect on my attitude-would you take a moment to reflect on this too. Then let us know,will you?

Let's also be very practical and simply give thanks to God , just say the words,and we are sure that as you do so,you will become aware of even more blessings for which you are thankful.. this too is a helpful exercise.

Would it not be great if we, the community of St John's, chose gratitude as a way of life.

We have a chance to do this in a very practical way next Sunday as we worship together in the Feathermarket Centre at 10am. We look forward to seeing you all there!