Gratitude in Action
As we pause this Thanksgiving Season to reflect on the blessings of life, let us also pause to consider the way in which we show our appreciation. True thankfulness is expressed not only in what we say, but also in what we do. Gratitude is essential but it will have far greater meaning when it is coupled with action.
Wilfred Peterson describes it as an “art of thanksgiving…gratitude in action.”1 He suggests that if we are thankful for our talents and abilities we should share them with others; if we are grateful for out health, we should give care and reverence to our bodies; and if we truly thank God for our opportunities, we should accept new challenges and push on to greater achievements.
Simply stated, to give thanks through prayer alone is not enough. “In gratitude for your own food fortune,” expressed Albert Schweitzer, “you must render in return some sacrifice of your life for another life.”2
Dr. Schweitzer’s words were probably best portrayed by many pioneers who helped settle the great western wilderness. Many walked more than a thousand miles from the Midwest to the Rockies, pushing or dragging handcarts with what few possessions they could bring. Their shoes wore out and canvas was tied to their bleeding feet; food ran low, and rawhide straps were boiled for nourishment; and as the weary travelers grew weaker, needing clothing and bedding were discarded to lighten the load. Parents left children in snowy trailside graves; while others, not knowing how exhausted they were would stop to rest, never to move on again. Yet the settlers continued west literally giving their lives in gratitude for the opportunities and freedom which was theirs.
When some of the Mormon pioneers arrived in the Great Salt Lake Valley during the snowy, cold November of 1847, they faced a bleak winter in crude log cabins, and a scarcity of food. Still, they knelt in thanksgiving, with tears of joy streaming down their faces. Wrote one, “The prayer that the Lord would bless…us was made up of no idle words.” They proceeded to help one another in gratitude for their blessings.
And so is our challenge: to help one another, not with “idle words,” but with gratitude in action; remembering that they left us a glorious legacy for this season of appreciation – and, hopefully, a portion of their noble spirit as well.
1Wilferd A. Peterson, The Art of Living
2Creditied to Dr. Albert Schweitzer
November 19, 1972
Broadcast Number 2,253