Gratitude

I have found that some of my most memorable and most important life lessons occurred at unusual times and at unusual places. This important life lesson occurred during a high school junior varsity basketball practice during the Winter of 1970. Our team was scrimmaging full court when one of the guards threw a nifty pass to one of the forwards who scored an easy layup. As we headed back up court, the coach blew his whistle and ordered us to huddle up. He was not a particularly warm and fuzzy sort of guy and probably not your first choice for your next-door neighbor. But with that said, he was smart and his basketball Bonafide’s were excellent. However, in this case the discussion in the huddle went much deeper than just basketball.

When we huddled up the coach asked the forward who received the pass what he should have said to the guard who threw the pass. The forward gave a “deer in the headlights” look and said, “I don’t know”. The coach looked him right in the eye and told him that when someone throws a good pass that leads to a scoring basket you acknowledge and thank the person who threw the pass. Otherwise, the person may not be inclined to throw you a pass in the future! I have no idea what impact that exchange had on my teammates, but I remember it as clearly today as I did 56 years ago!

So, what was so important about the exchange during the basketball scrimmage? The principle of gratitude! When someone does something for you or even compliments you, what should you do? Of course, you acknowledge the compliment or favor by saying “thank you.” My wife Cathy and I are very pleased when we receive thoughtful notes of thanks from members of our Church’s campus ministry team and international ministry team when we provide financial support for their ministry. But we are disappointed in those rare instances when we receive no acknowledgement or thanks.

 The two words, “thank you”, are simple to say, but for reasons I do not entirely understand, hard for many of us to say. Why is that? Is it because we do not want to feel obligated to another person? Or is it just plain laziness? It is tempting to say that gratitude is a lost art and a casualty of our selfish and narcissistic modern-day culture. There is probably some truth to that observation, but I am convinced the issue runs deeper than that. Why do I say that? Because of an important story from the First Century. In the Gospel of Luke 17:11-19 Jesus was traveling between Samaria and Galilee on his way to Jerusalem when he encountered 10 lepers at a distance. Lepers were outcasts and basically dead to the rest of society because of their horrific disease. The 10 lepers cried out to Jesus for mercy and healing from the disease. Jesus told the 10 lepers to go and be examined by the priests. When they did so, the priests determined that all 10 were miraculously healed. So, you would think that all 10 would have immediately come back to thank Jesus for his miraculous act of healing on their behalf. If you thought that, you would be wrong. Only 1 of the 10 lepers came back to thank Jesus. Jesus took note that only 1 of 10 responded with gratitude, but told the grateful man to go on his way as his faith made him well.

So, if only 1 out of 10 lepers came back to thank Jesus, should we be surprised that gratitude is difficult for all of us? Of course it is difficult. But for all of us, and especially committed followers of Jesus Christ, let’s take note of this challenge and seek to make gratitude one of our life’s guiding principles.

God bless you and thank you for the privilege of your time in reading my blog.