The Still, Small Voice of Gratitude – June 10, 2001
From our earliest years, the expression “thank you” is among the first and most important we learn. In every language and across every culture, giving thanks is a central part of human interaction.
Whether with a formal note or a passing handshake, words of gratitude have a special power. They lighten burdens, convey respect, and bring individuals closer together. Think of how you want to do more and be better when sincere thanks are offered.
After the Savior healed ten lepers, all rushed away save one, who turned back, fell at the feet of Jesus, and gave heartfelt thanks. “Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?” asked the Lord.1 Why did saying “thank you” matter to Him? Perhaps because a genuine willingness to give thanks reflects so much about our hearts.
Expressions of gratitude inspire both the receiver and the giver. Not long ago, a commencement speaker recommended: “If you can’t think of anything for which to be grateful, begin with your toothbrush! Say, ‘What a wonderful little gadget you are! Thank you, toothbrush.’”2 And pretty soon you’ll find there’s more than a toothbrush that’s good about your life.
Being grateful puts us in a position to recognize and receive blessings. The scriptures admonish: “. . . let thy heart be full of thanks unto God”3 and “Live in thanksgiving daily.”4 Truly, gratitude can be a remedy for many spiritual ills.
English author Thomas Gray writes of “the still, small voice of gratitude” that invites holiness into our lives.5 Expressions of thanks direct our thoughts to the Fount of every blessing, and touch the cold realities of mortality with the warmth of heaven’s light. Giving thanks is a way of opening hearts to each other—and to God.
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1Luke 17:17.
2Marjorie Pay Hinckley, address delivered at Brigham Young University commencement exercises, 27 Apr. 2000.
3Alma 37:37.
4Alma 34:38.
5“Ode for Music,” line 64, quoted in Poems of Gray, ed. John Drinkwater, Everyman Edition (London and New York: J. M. Dent and Sons, Ltd., 1912), 15.