The Simplicity of Gratitude

How do we get ourselves in a place of gratitude? Can it be summoned? Where does thanksgiving reside? I think the first place we must go to is silence. The constant banter of yesterday's anguish, today's productivity, and tomorrow's longing are never fully countered until we meet them in silence. Psalm 46:10 says, "Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." When we sit in complete silence, we are confronted by the Divine. Now, we can welcome this meeting or take a rain check, but silence opens the door for this relationship. I can always hear God far better when I am alone. When I listen, I hear how He feels about me. He cherishes me, He wants to know me more, and He delights in who I am. Silence opens us up to our identity in Christ. Once we our assured of our identity, our hearts can do nothing else but be thankful. There is no other response. This identity crisis is something Lewis is touching on in Till We Have Faces with Orual. She does not know who she is because she does not fully know who the gods are. If she could see them she would believe, and she would find confidence in herself. So maybe we should stop trying so hard to be thankful because we cannot will ourselves to it. Instead, let us sit in the mystery of the silence and encounter the peace that transcends all understanding. Let us rest in the truth that we cannot alter God's perception of us. The veil is torn. The blood of this Beautiful One not only provides access to His Father, but is the lens through which the Father now sees us. If that does not produce gratitude, I do not know what will. Silence gives way to prayer, prayer reaffirms our identity, and our new identity as heirs with Christ overflows into a thankful heart.