Gratitude Against All Odds
Table Talk
Setting the Table
You are welcome here. Come just as you are, bringing whatever is on your heart today. Take a few moments and allow yourself to just be. Take a couple deep breaths, grab yourself a cup of coffee, light a candle, do something that brings you comfort. Allow yourself to be present in this moment.
Consider the healing and liberation that gratitude can offer.
Appreciation is a wonderful thing; it makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.
- Voltaire
Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.
- Melody Beattie
Luke 17:11-19
On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”
Food for Thought
It is hard to be thankful or to express gratitude sometimes. Trust me. As a Liberian man who grew up during a civil war and had to live in refugee camps as a tween and teenager, I know how hard it is to find a reason to be grateful.
Imagine waking up to the sound of guns firing, bombs going off, and the smell of burning all around you. Imagine waking up to heavy winds, rising tides, wildfires, or the earth literally shaking and opening up around you. Imagine waking up to the news of a loved one’s death, or to the loss of any sense of security you held sacred. Now ask yourself, what is there to be grateful for?
I haven’t even yet talked about those in our own society who are abused, unjustly criminalized, oppressed, or marginalized. Finding reasons to be grateful can be the hardest thing to do for so many people.
Jesus encounters great suffering in our text. He sees the lepers - marked unclean by his culture and societal norms - forced to keep themselves isolated, denied any sense of dignity or community, who by law must loudly proclaim themselves unclean whenever they encounter others so that those who hear them can avoid them. Yet Jesus pauses and gives ear to their cries for help and recognition, “Master, have pity on us.” Instead of dismissing their cries, as others would have, Jesus listens. He attends. He heals. And in that healing, there is laughter, there is relief, there is hope, there is new possibility, and the joy of finally being seen and heard, included, welcomed, saved, and loved.
In all of their excitement, it seems those who were healed have forgotten about Jesus, except for one. In that moment, as he looks at his healed skin and contemplates what this moment means for him moving forward, his heart fills with gratitude. He has to go back, he has to give God thanks. So he does.
His faith took him on a healing journey and brought him back to say thank you.
Gratitude or thankfulness is like a muscle in our psyche that needs constant work in order to grow and become a part of who we are. If we do not practice being grateful, even in difficult times, we lose our ability to show gratitude when it matters the most. It has always surprised me that sometimes it is people who are going through the most difficult seasons of their lives who seem the most grateful. There is so much for us to learn from people living on the margins about practicing gratitude.
In Liberia, a country devastated by civil war and over a hundred years of corrupt leadership, when asked how they are doing, many Liberians, even those living in poverty and destitution, will most often respond with, “We thank God.” In that simple phrase is expressed a lifetime of practicing gratitude despite great suffering.
Practicing and embodying gratitude is not an embracing of the superficial “hashtag blessed” culture. It is not an espousal of toxic positivity. The kind of gratitude modeled by Jesus and demonstrated by the leper is one that lives not only in the good, but also through the lessons and opportunities of the bad. Being grateful is not a call to diminish the pain and suffering of anyone - it is an opportunity to be present for those on the margins, loving them, giving them hope, and often learning from them the significance of true gratitude.
Let us find ways to practice and embody gratitude in all that we do. Let us be renewed day by day, making provision for the practicing and embodiment of gratitude. And then, when Jesus wants to know who has returned to give thanks, a multitude of us can show up.
Each day for a week, write down three things you are grateful for. Try not to repeat anything - seek something new to appreciate each day.
One way of expressing gratitude is through paying attention. Choose one item of focus - it could be a flower, a candle, an animal companion, a person, your breath ... any one thing. Journal about that one item, reflecting on what you notice about it, what you appreciate about it, and how paying attention to it has changed this moment/your perspective in any way.
Blessing
God, we know that life will not always be easy.
Help us remember that we are not alone.
Even in the hardship, you are with us.
May our hearts hold gratitude for your friendship on the journey,
and may we open our hearts to others in ways that encourage gratitude in them.
A little Table Talk for your table...
How do you incorporate acts of gratitude in your living?
Where has gratitude found you, and where have you found gratitude in times of hardship?
How does practicing gratitude change you?
Try taking it to the Kids Table...
Name 3 things you are thankful for.
When was the last time you said "Thank You" to someone? What was it for? Has anyone thanked you for something? What did they thank you for?
How can you share your appreciation with others?
Meet Our Welcoming Voice!
James Blay is the former Vice President of Administration at the Liberia Baptist Theological Seminary. He now serves as the Coordinator for Children’s Programs with Passport Camps. James and his wife, Allison, enjoy spending their evenings chasing after their sweet pup, Benny!
To hear more from James throughout the week, follow along on our Instagram!
If you have a story that you would like to be included as a Reader's Write feature, we would love for you to send it our way! You can email us directly at thewelcometableco@gmail.com.
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