If you happened to watch the Today Show earlier this week, you might have caught a segment on the importance of practicing gratitude. (If you missed it, you can watch it here.) The segment brought together the insights of three faith leaders - Jewish, Christian, and Muslim - each of whom talked about the role that gratitude plays in their faith traditions. There was a lot of buzz about this piece on my social media feed, because one of the faith leaders was the Reverend Canon Eva Suarez who serves at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine here in New York. (Many of us in the Diocese of New York were feeling very proud and sharing the clip widely!) In her own take on gratitude, Canon Suarez talked about Eucharist, which means ‘thanksgiving,’ and is so central to our Episcopal worship. Thanksgiving is baked into our life together as Christians. We can’t avoid it. Whenever Jesus gave thanks to God, the Greek word that is used is eucharisteo, which means to actively express gratitude.
Studies have shown that practicing gratitude is good for our mental and physical health. It’s good for our spiritual health as well. But practicing gratitude isn’t always easy. The holiday season is filled with joy and wonder, but it can also be a difficult time for those who are ill, or grieving a loss, or have feelings of hopelessness or despair. Expressing gratitude is good for us, but so is being able to genuinely express our pain, our doubts, and our fears. When we celebrate Eucharist together as a community, we bring our whole selves to the Table. We come as we are, and we are welcomed as we are because eucharisteo happens in the presence of the One who gave thanks and also suffered on the Cross. On this Thanksgiving weekend, let us give thanks for our blessings, let us remember those who are suffering, and let us all come together at God’s gracious Table.
