‘In all circumstances, give thanks’

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

THAT’S from St. Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalonians. (cfr. 5,18) The complete passage goes this way: “In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.”

Indeed, we cannot overemphasize this need to always be thankful for everything, including things that in our human standards can be considered as bad. That’s because as long as things are always related to Christ, everything, including the negative aspects of our life, will work out for the good. (cfr. Rom 8,28)

This reminder to be always thankful was also highlighted in that gospel episode where Christ healed 10 lepers, and yet only one came back to him to thank him. (cfr. Lk 17,11-19) It made Christ to remark: “Were not ten made clean? And where are the nine?”

Obviously, Christ does not need to be thanked and praised. He already has everything. He is pure perfection. But Christ wants us to be always thankful more for our own good.

That’s because by always being thankful we acknowledge what God has given and shared with us. We strengthen our relationship with him which we always need, otherwise we have no other alternative but to go the wrong way in our life. We nourish our love for him which would lead us to enter into a better relationship with the others.

Besides, being thankful always can give us many other human and natural benefits. It definitely would improve our mental health since it can lower levels of stress, anxiety and depression. It takes us away from simply thinking of our own selves and leads us to get more actively involved in the affairs of the others and of the world in general.

More than that, by being thankful always we would somehow improve our capacity to be resilient and to develop better coping skills, softening our structured ways. Yes, it can even help us to enjoy better sleep, since it would bring us peace of mind.

Given the many things today that can undermine this spirit of gratitude in us, we should make an effort to develop the habit of being thankful everyday. This we can do if we would only spend some time to acknowledge the many little things of the day for which we should be thankful. It may also help that before going to bed at night, we take note of the good things that happened during the day. And even the bad things can be a reason for giving thanks if we refer them to God.

Nowadays, we have to be wary also of the many factors that can undermine this spirit of gratitude we ought to have. Among them is that attitude of entitlement that can lead us to think that we deserve certain things or treatment for which we do not need to be thankful.

Another factor would be when we are always comparing ourselves with others, carried away by the strong waves of envy and jealousy. This definitely would negate our duty to be thankful for whatever we have, no matter how small and insignificant, humanly speaking, it may be.

This is not to mention that these days, we are bombarded with so many things, locking us in some form of self-entrapment and self-indulgence, such that we would not feel the need to be thankful for what we are enjoying at the moment.

There are, of course, some cultural and societal influences that can undermine this spirit of thankfulness, especially when we develop negative thinking patterns and become a very judgmental person.

We have to be wary of these dangers and focus on our duty to develop the spirit of gratitude.

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com