The Deepest Thanksgiving

I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness. --Psalm 138:2a

Whenever it becomes clear that heaven has heard and answered our prayers, we find our hearts grateful and we are moved to offer thanks. At that point, prayers of thanksgiving do not need to be forced, or even coerced. We find ourselves so thrilled that what we have been asking for has been granted, that our gratitude pours forth in words from our heart without the slightest hesitation. The reason for this, of course, is that what had been troubling us, concerning us, hurting us, no longer has any hold over us. While such thanksgiving is important, we are still very much centered in ourselves. In other words, it is all still about ‘us.'

But, there is another expression of thanks that is focused not on us, but on God alone. It is the gratefulness that arises in the soul when there is a revelatory recognition of the real nature of God. When we suddenly realize the breadth of God's love and faithfulness – not just for us – but for the entire world, the entire creation, our soul can be so overcome that warm thanksgiving tears slide down our cheeks. These moments of pure adoration are so un-selfconscious, so unplanned, so unexpected, that we will remember them as times of great sacredness. We may even find ourselves transfixed, transformed, transfigured by them. In those moments when we taste the pure goodness of God, and thanksgiving spills out unbidden from our soul, we may find that we begin to respond differently to life. We may begin to see that it doesn't take many such selfless moments to completely alter our understanding of ourselves and God.

O God, let the power of your inestimable love be so real in my life, that my only response can be the lowering of my head and the folding of my knees.

--Renée Miller
from Signposts Daily Meditations