Gratitude Needs to Be an Attitude

Today’s message was written by the founder of Dial Hope, the Rev. Roger Kunkel

One of my favorite subjects is gratitude. Henry David Thoreau wrote, “I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual.” Friends of Dial Hope, most of us specialize in periodic outbursts of gratitude. Rather than a continuous condition or a state of being, thanksgiving becomes an event, a time, a day, in particular, the fourth Thursday of every November. But gratitude needs to be an attitude, a perpetual one. 

To keep myself in a thankful condition, I do the following: I launch my attitude of gratitude when I awaken. In the silence of my heart, I say, “Thank you, God, for a night of rest and for the gift of a new day. I am thankful, I am thankful. I am thankful, and I will live this day in gratitude, from start to finish, come what may. Lord, what are you up to today? I want to be a part of it. Now I ask that you bless me so I may be a blessing to others.” 

The crucial thing is to get yourself prepared for yet another day of thankfulness. Crashes, victories, and boredom will come and go. Our attitude of gratitude endures. With perpetual thanksgiving, I remain.  

Let us pray: Loving God, who broods over us at night like a mother bird over her nest and rises upon us in the morning like the sun that warms the earth, we lift our hearts to you in praise and thanksgiving. You have richly blessed each of us. Thank you for your love and extravagance. This day, may we be beautifully extravagant in our generosity, gratitude, and kindness toward others. In Jesus’ name. Amen.