Where’s Michael? Exploring Gratitude

Thou that hast giv’n so much to me,
Give one thing more, a grateful heart.
See how thy beggar works on thee
By art.(1)

Gratitude (noun): the state of being grateful [thankfulness](2)

One of my favorite movie characters quips, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”(3). I’m sure you’ve noticed.  Advent and Christmas are not far off.  I’ve done my best to ignore the decorations, the trees, the lights, the “Black Friday” sales in October.  Before we rush to these seasons like so many stores (or, in the case of SiriusXM, with holiday music channels already), November is a time when we are encouraged to think about gratitude.  Don’t let this important season rush by for you or your congregation.  Explore your feelings about gratitude.

I’ve mentioned it before. The Daily Question from grateful.org arrives in my inbox each morning.  The site explains, “We offer a daily question to uplift grateful awareness.  Allow each question to touch you, generating insight.  Allow yourself to be moved by shared concerns and celebrations.”  That’s what happens in worship during the joys and concerns, or highs and lows at youth group. It happens at a life group, Sunday school class, and a fellowship dinner.   We are moved by shared concerns and celebrations.  It’s community and compassion.  It’s expands our table experience.

I’ve discovered a few signposts while exploring gratitude along my journey in faith.  I’m sure you have too.

Think of something for which you are grateful today. Say thanks.I am grateful to You, Giver and Sustainer of life, for having granted me another day of life. Your love and faith in me is truly overwhelming.Rabbi Terry Bookman in The Busy Soul(5)

It is the Lord; let the Lord do what seems good to the Lord. (1 Samuel 3:18b)

How could I embody one of my values today?(6)

Bubbles up
They will point you towards home
No matter how deep or how far you roam
They will show you the surface, the plot and the purpose
So, when the journey gets long
Just know that you are loved
There is light up above
And the joy is always enough
Bubbles up(7)

This table has been a house in the rain, an umbrella in the sun.(8)

With malice toward none with charity for all with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right let us strive on to finish the work we are in to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan ~ to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.(9)

I welcome hearing about yours.(4).

Along the way I’ve heard, “Put gratitude into action.”  Have you heard that encouragement?  It’s a different way to understand the food pantry, blessing box, clothing closets, volunteerism at soup kitchens and other social service non-profits, and monetary assistance Disciples offer neighbors and members.  One of the learnings on my journey has been that compassion, empathy, and sympathy are forms of gratitude.

Gratitude into action is a different way of thinking about stewardship season when members, longtime visitors, and seekers of all generations are invited to renew the covenant of ministry for the coming year by committing their dollars, talent, and time to the church and its ministries.  You are helping set your local banquet table for the coming year.

And your gifts and that of your congregation’s to the Disciples Mission Fund, to the Special Day offerings (the Thanksgiving offering this month or Christmas offering next month), the Region’s Annual Fund, or legacy gifts to endowments renew the covenant of ministry with the Region and denomination.  It is gratitude in action that helps set the banquet table for the coming year.

Thank you, for taking time this month to explore gratitude and to act on that experience.  The world needs it and God trusts this ministry to us.

Disciples, you are a blessing.

Note

1.  George Herbert’s “Gratefulness” (1633). https://www.poetrynook.com/poem/gratefulness
2.  Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, s.v. “gratitude,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gratitude.
3.  Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, John Hughes (Paramount Studios) 1986.
4. Share your signposts with me, mdavison at okdisciples dot org
5. Spirituality and Practice: Resources for Spiritual Journeys. https://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/practices/alphabet/gratitude/quotes
6. The Daily Question, grateful.org. November 4, 2026.
7. “Bubbles Up,” Jimmy Buffett. (Mailboat and Sun Records) 2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal_Strain_on_All_Parts
8. Joy Harjo, “Perhaps the World Ends Here” (The Woman Who Fell from the Sky, W. W. Norton, 1994).
9. Abraham Lincoln, “Second Inaugural Address.” March 4, 1865. https://www.nps.gov/linc/learn/historyculture/lincoln-second-inaugural.htm