“The Discipline of Thankfulness”

Fr. James Rooney 

One of the fundamental virtues of the spiritual life is contentment. This virtue stems from hearts that have learned to be grateful for what they have, which live for Christ rather than for what they can gain materially, which have removed complaining from their lives, which note what they have rather than what they don’t have, focus upon the good in every life situation rather than the negative, and which thank God continually for His blessings. The latter, giving thanks, is the key to attaining the virtue of contentment.  

We all talk of “giving thanks” in November of every year, but I suspect that most of us are only thinking of being thankful for the immediate pleasures of family, friends, a sumptuous meal and good football. Truly giving thanks is far deeper than our yearly celebration would imply. To learn to “give thanks in all things,” as St. Paul admonishes us, is a discipline, which is practiced and learned. It involves actions, which must be exercised repeatedly in order for it to instill in us true thankfulness and the virtue of contentment. What are these exercises? 

A first discipline is to pray repeatedly for a grateful and unassuming heart. We sinners are essentially self-oriented, and we tend to judge our quality of life on the basis of the quantity of our material possessions and the degree of self-satisfaction we have attained. Inherent in this viewpoint is an essential dissatisfaction with our current state and a longing for something more. Substantively, that something more is contentment, rather than self-satisfaction and material possessions. Our first step toward contentment is to pray for thankful hearts. 

A second discipline is to make it an action of our lives to regularly identify all of our “blessings.” That is, we should make a list of the things for which we could or should be grateful; at a regular time, be it daily or weekly review that list. By doing this one might find oneself quite surprised; this list can often be quite lengthy. 

The third discipline follows which is to verbally thank God for every blessing on that list. Very often, we are thankful, but we don’t express that gratefulness to God. The third discipline is to do so, and to do so aloud. 

A fourth practice of thankfulness is to regularly ask God’s forgiveness for any ingratitude, complaining or envy which we may have expressed. Ignoring or excusing these actions does not aid us in attaining contentment; they must be eradicated, and the best way is through repentance, that is, through admitting and asking God’s forgiveness. This list also can be long. 

A fifth exercise in learning thankfulness is to give thanks for all of life’s setbacks. This is not because we enjoy setbacks, but because we have been promised “God works all things together for the good.” This being the case, we are learning to give thanks for the blessings that are going to materialize from these negative situations. 

Finally, we should always thank God that we are being given the privilege of entering into this spiritual discipline. If we can learn thankfulness, our hearts will be changed, and the virtue of contentment will be instilled in our beings. The simple fact that we can learn this virtue is itself something for which we should exercise thankfulness.

Being thankful is more than a pious sentiment or thought that crosses our minds once a year. It is an attitude, even a way of life, and one who is truly thankful will strive with all of his being to enter into that life and to attain its consequent contentment.