Three Good Things - A Practice of Gratitude

4:5 Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. 4:6 Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 4:7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:5-7

  Paul wrote his letter to the Philippians from prison. In it, he offered a sort of formula for the nascent Christian church in Philippi. He believed that following this formula was part of  experiencing the joy of God's glory and could bring joy to anyone wise enough to absorb its meaning into practice. His words are about joy and gratitude, not about happiness. But they can be a guide for those who are often confused by Thomas Jefferson's proclamation in the Declaration of Independence of our right to "the pursuit of happiness ."... 

    Sometimes I wonder if Jefferson did us a disservice with the use of that phrase. Americans sometimes seem to pursue happiness with such a frantic fervor that their goal seems ceretain to elude them. For happiness is not something we can "capture" and hold in our hands like a parakeet.
    A news article my younger sister sent me, however, offers a remarkably simple practice that exective coach Caroline Adams Miller recommends. The practice is that every night we are to think of three good things that happened that day and analyze why they occurred.
   "I thought it was too simple to be effective," Ms. Miller said in the AP story. "I went to Harvard. I'm used to things being complicated."
   Since the practice seemed so simple, Miller decided to give it a try. She was startled by the results.
   "The quality of my dreams has changed, I never have trouble falling asleep and I do feel happier," she says.
   This "think-of-three-good-things exercise is now being tested by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania to see if it has any deep or long term value on those who practice it. An additional approach being studied is teaching people to savor pleasing things in their lives like a warm shower or a good breakfast.
   Could such simple practices have a real effect on our state of well being? All I can tell you is that since I read about this a week ago, I've been trying it. Usually, I find myself discovering more than three things. In addition, I've increased my focus on savoring the experiences of life at a more reflective pace. Yes. I feel a greater sense of well being as a result.
   But isn't it obvious that this outcome would follow? Where attention goes, energy flows. If I am focusing my energy on the mystery and miracle of life around me (as well as allowing myself to appreciate the uglier aspects without judgment) wouldn't I be bound to feel better?
   Gratitude crowds out the toxins of bitterness, anger, and resentment. When I am practicing gratitude, than there's no room for disappointment and frustration.
   Yes, the formula is simple. But what is the downside? There is none. If we have been caught in patterns of recycling negative thought, isn't it worth trying a new pathway?
   The Apostle Paul urged gentleness as well as the practice of thanksgiving. He offered these practices as ways for us to open the door to God's peace. And in this peace we discover the presence and the strength of Jesus. He waits for us to discover that when we practice kindness and thanksgiving, we learn love.

-Erie Chapman

Comments

[Carol Elkins, R.N.]

I like all of your meditations, but I especially look forward to your Sunday ones. Thank you for connecting Scripture to our lives as care givers. I will try the practice of "Three Good Things" this week and I'm sure it will be a good influence in my life.

[Jan Keeling]

I can't wait to try this "three good things" practice this week. I know it will be good. I'm going to tell my friends (those who are receptive) about this too.

[Karen York]

Living in the grace of gratitude always pushes away selfishness, pity, self-loathing, ego. It is a courageous way to live sometimes, when everything seems to look bleak and our future isn't playing out in the way we had always hoped. Yet thankfulness has a way of setting things right and often when we least expect it, things turn for the better without our working so hard for it.

[liz Wessel RN, MS SJHS Home Health Network, Orange, CA]

I appreciate the distinction made between happiness versus joy and gratitude. When we search for external happiness, it remains elusive and fleeting, yet seeking joy within offers a wellspring that is life giving and renewing.

Yesterday I gathered with longtime friends to honor the end of the life of a beautiful woman Helene who was Marylou’s precious mom. I tasted the salt of my tears, and those of countless others, as our toes touched upon an ocean of grief for lives already lived as they ebbed back into eternity. I joined in the circle of life as we stretched out our arms to reach up high. Together our hands joined as we carefully held and gently cradled a tender aching heart, and it became the one common heart of us all. The grace of God’s pure white radiant light was shining upon our heart, as we were enveloped in a soothing warm blanket of love. I left with the hope and promise of tommorrow's sunrise.

Thank you, these are surely comforting words offered to us today from scripture. Yes, to take in and savor, ‘Do not worry, our Lord is near, I am content to be where I am, as I am, knowing he goes there with me. Unafraid as he is guiding me in love. Be of gentleness and let his peace fill your heart, for as he loves you, so shall you love, and as he forgives, so shall you forgive, and as he heals you, so shall you heal.’

[Julia]

This is all very positive! Check out the blog I started this year based on this idea. Feedback and links are welcome. Link up if you or someone you know has a blog with the same concept. Cheers, http://3for365.blogspot.com/