let us say thanks

"In our driven and busy age, we've largely forgotten this weekly pause of gratitude, and we're much the worse for it. After all, it's not that we give thanks because God needs it, as if he were some petty dictator whose ego needs stroking. We give thanks because we need it, in order to keep our bearings in a world that threatens to kill the human spirit through the complacency of plenty or the bitterness of want."

in today's paper, we came across this is a portion of a timely, thoughtful op-ed piece about gratitude.  it is timely because most americans are gripped by anxiety and stress from this period of economic uncertainty (which is quickly influencing our lifestyles and choices).  if ever contentment were important...

for the last year or so, our household has been deliberate about developing a reflex of gratitude.  with isaac, we are teaching this through prayer - each night he thanks god for three things (the source of such sweet and funny stuff).  through silent resolve, geoff leads the way in the family.  with his grateful disposition, he focuses on little joys and lets the things that eat me alive pass him by.  i've got so much work to do, but i've certainly learned from a dedicated effort of self-correction and repetition - resetting my perspective, often one hundred times in a day.  i'd say in the last year we've surely been schooled and transformed by the active discipline of giving "thanks."  

see the rest of this at -http://www.kentucky.com/589/story/602696.html.