To be appreciative we must be grateful. We cannot be appreciative if we
are incapable of gratitude. Gratitude is more than being polite. After
receiving a kindness, it is polite to say words of gratitude. However,
selfish people can be trained to respond appropriately to kindness.
Gracious acts and words of thanks appropriately expressed in a timely manner
may prove only that a person is well trained. They may reveal gratitude.
They may not.
Gratitude is a state of heart produced by an appreciative mind. Politeness
is responsive behavior expressed through gracious manners and an appropriate
vocabulary. While the heart is essential to gratitude, it is not essential
to politeness.
This past week Joyce and I were richly blessed by a week of vacation. While
we "had fun," the real joy was experienced in time together, rest, and
escape from stress. The week freed my mind "to see" and "to feel" in ways
that heightened awareness. Frequently I found myself quietly praying prayers
of gratitude.
Through opportunities and experiences, God gave me "eyes" that "look at
life" from more than the American perspective. The greater majority of the
world's population suffers from a poverty that exceeds our ability to grasp.
In their wildest imagination these people could not mentally picture our
vacation world.
For many their government decrees how many children they can have. This
decree is enforced through abortion when necessary. For many others, half
of their children die before reaching five years of age. Because of poverty
and overpopulation, children either (a) are not wanted [by the government]
or (b) have a fifty percent chance of survival. The parents are powerless
to change either reality.
From birth to adult death, many will never have enough to eat. Many adults
die rarely having eaten all they wanted any day of their lives. The
majority could not buy enough food for their families if they spent
everything they earned just on food.
In the early 1990s Joyce and I worked in Poland. Economic recovery had just
begun.
We heard of a Russian who dreamed of visiting America. He could not believe
the stories he heard about America's prosperity. Then, he had a chance to
visit Poland. As he prepared to return to Russia he said, "I no longer want
to visit America. Nothing could be as prosperous as Poland!"
"God, may we turn from a mere vocabulary of politeness. Give us hearts of
gratitude."
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