His Love Endures Forever

The more I think about gratitude and thanksgiving, the more I am convinced that gratitude is more a matter of being than an emotion. What I mean is we tend to think of gratitude as just a feeling we have as a result of a perceived kindness. And while that is true, I think there is more. When I say it is a matter of being, I mean that gratitude actually affects and shapes what one is capable of seeing. I think this litany we will look at Sunday is a good case in point. A litany is a kind of call and response liturgical device. In this particular Psalm, a statement is made about something God has done, and after that statement, throughout the whole Psalm there is a response that says, “For his steadfast love endures forever.” The thanksgiving ranges from thanksgiving for God’s lavish creation, his glorious redemption, and all the way down to his continued care of his people. It is like the Psalmist is trying to beat it into our heads that there are things we might doubt, but the evidence is in: God’s love endures forever. In other words, if there is one thing that shapes how we know and perceive the world, it is this: God’s love endures always. I read somewhere long ago, and I can’t find the quote anywhere, a writer who was talking about how we learn to love, and he says this about his child, “I kiss my child because I love him. I kiss my child in order to love him.” In other words, love is more than a gush of feeling that then spontaneously is expressed in an embrace; it is also a learned habit, practiced even when feelings are not exactly bubbling on the surface. I think gratitude is like that. We express gratitude when we genuinely feel grateful, but also, we express gratitude to be grateful. Like this litany, we are practicing being grateful, because we know this is the correct posture of seeing and perceiving the world.That is what we will talk about this Sunday. Speaking of grateful, how ‘bout this reprieve in the weather this week! I don’t know about you, but I am so grateful for this small kindness!