On gratitude

A talk I wrote a few years ago that I just found. I rather liked it.

Topic

In keeping with today’s topic and the theme of the season, I will speak about gratitude. I pray for the spirit to help guide my remarks and also to help you not get bored.

Ten Lepers

I want to start by jumping in to the story of the ten lepers. Jesus enters into a small village, runs into ten lepers, and heals all ten. Only one thanks Jesus. The Savior responds: “Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?”

This passage from the New Testament is probably the most quoted gratitude scripture. But why is it important? More specifically, why is it important that we understand the reaction of Jesus to the other “nine?” After all, this is the same Jesus that preached: “do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.”

Why did the same Jesus who refused to condemn the woman in adultery, in this case take pains to point out the ingratitude of the nine lepers? Did Jesus need the public recognition? Was he concerned about their private contrition? Did he want to point out that ingratitude was a sin in and of itself? More broadly speaking, why did Jesus emphasize the importance of gratitude? Why does God command us to be grateful?

Scriptural Basis

Book of Mormon and modern prophets also teach this commandment to be grateful.

Alma asks us to “… live in thanksgiving daily.”

The Lord through Joseph Smith asks us to do “…all things with prayer and thanksgiving….”

Also in the D&C, we learn that “…in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments.”

The Lord makes the importance of gratitude clear. But why? Nephi teaches us that “He doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world….” What, then, is the key to understanding how gratitude helps us?

Definition

To take a step back, in terms of our daily experience, what is gratitude? Or, rather, when do we feel gratitude? I believe that we are likely to experience gratitude when we receive something that:
(1)we value
(2)is costly to the person who gives the gift
(3)is given with good intentions (for example, not predicated on reciprocity), and
(4)is given freely rather than out of a role-based obligation

If you apply this framework to the scriptures then the commandment to be grateful is really just an invitation:
(1)to value what God values,
(2)to “spend” or sacrifice what God spends and sacrifices,
(3)to develop God’s “good” intent (in other words, develop charity) and,
(4)to change our natures

Apply to Scriptures

The scriptures, which before seemed so strict and almost militant in commanding us to confess the hand of God in all things, take on new meaning. Let’s take three examples.

In the D&C we read that “… he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more.” This is entirely logical. If we “receive all things with thankfulness” we will value those things that God values and in all situations strive to act as God would. If we do this, the Lord has promised that we will be joint heirs in his kingdom.

For another example, consider the Lord’s call to build a temple in D&C 97. Notice how the Lord explains what purpose a temple will serve in establishing Zion. [The temple is]:

13 … a place of thanksgiving for all saints, and … a place of instruction for all those who are called to the work of the ministry …;
14 That they may be perfected in the understanding of their ministry, in theory, in principle, and in doctrine, in all things pertaining to the kingdom of God on the earth….

You can interpret this explanation in a few ways. One way is that a temple has several purposes, one of which is as a place to give thanks. Another way is that a temple has a singular purpose—the salvation of Zion. Giving thanks, receiving instruction, and perfecting our understanding are all ways expressing this same purpose. Regardless of how you read the verse, how often do we explain the purpose of the temple as a place to give thanks?

If, however, we interpret God’s command to “give thanks in all things” as synonymous with the Savior’s invitation “to be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” then the role of the temple as a place of thanksgiving becomes clear. In the temple we learn about pre-mortal life, the creation, the fall, the resurrection, and the atonement. We learn about the nature of God and we make covenants to change our nature to become like His. We commit to sacrifice what he sacrificed (His everything), and learn to be obedient because of our love for Him. In short, we begin to value what he values, we better appreciate the cost of his sacrifice, and we learn of the benevolent intentions of our Father and our Savior.

Joseph Smith taught “If men do not comprehend the character of God, they do not comprehend themselves.” Combining these ideas, I think the Lord is telling us that it is in giving thanks that we truly come to understand ourselves.

For another example, consider Laman and Lemuel. According to our framework, when you give thanks for something you first learn how God would view that thing and then strive to view it in the same way. Murmuring is the opposite of giving thanks--you persist in your own view and refuse to find out the will of God.

The Book of Mormon describes the exhortations given to Laman and Lemuel as “… hard to be understood, save a man should inquire of the Lord; and they being hard in their hearts, therefore they did not look unto the Lord as they ought.”

Later, Nephi writes “And thus Laman and Lemuel, … did murmur … because they knew not the dealings of that God who had created them” (1 Ne. 2:12; see also Mosiah 10:14).

Laman and Lemuel became rebels instead of leaders because of their failure to understand either the character or the purposes of God. They did not understand, at least in part, because they were ungrateful.

Practical Application

Understanding gratitude as an invitation to become like God is certainly an interesting exercise. To some extent, this definition is self-serving. I was assigned to speak on gratitude and somehow found a way to conflate almost every other major gospel principle into it. But how will applying this framework help us to live the gospel? What practical application does it have? What does it change? Two examples I can think of.

First, it can change how we “count our blessings.” Personally, when I view giving thanks as a way to investigate the nature of God, the quantitative element in gratitude begins to subside. Counting or list making becomes less important. Motivation and consistency become more important. The Book of Mormon is a blessing. Check. I am thankful for the Book of Mormon. I prayed as much this morning. I express my gratitude by reading and applying the teachings of the Book of Mormon to become like God? Work in progress.

I am striving to replace the quantitative “count your blessings” model of gratitude with what Neal A Maxwell describes as “inventorying your insights.” If blessings are isolated data points then insights are the trends and messages those data convey. Am I “giving thanks” without becoming more like God? Where are the data points clustered? In the last ten years, when have I been the most blessed? What was I doing then? What can I change?

Henry B Eyring has his own method to count blessings--every day he writes a short journal entry responding to the question “How has the Lord blessed me today.” It is an excellent technique and I am not one to criticize it. But perhaps another way to phrase that question would be “How have I used my blessings to become more like God today?”

Second, it can change how we pray.

In D&C 46 the Lord through Joseph Smith says “…ye must give thanks unto God in the Spirit for whatsoever blessing ye are blessed with.” Notice the phrase “in the Spirit.”

Next, in John, the Lord says: “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”

Prayer is the act by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other. Our wills and desires are more than just what we want, they also include what we value. Just like I can ask amiss, I can give thanks incorrectly. I am often too thankful--both in words and in action--for a job, an education, friends, a car, and an apartment. Are those the things God values most in my life?

In light of these scriptures and this framework, I can better understand that giving thanks is not merely a precursor to the main work of prayer--asking for forgiveness or pleading for blessings--but it is an essential method of communicating to my Father in Heaven that our wills truly are converging.

Conclusion

To summarize, gratitude is:
(1)to value what God values,
(2)to “spend” or sacrifice what God spends and sacrifices,
(3)to develop charity and,
(4)to change our natures

If we revisit the ten Lepers, this context can change our view of Christ’s reaction. With His ministry perhaps largely completed, ten lepers showed faith by lifting up their voices and saying “Master, have mercy on us.” He blessed all ten lepers with healing and a confirmation of their faith. Only one demonstrated that his faith was enduring, that he recognized the source of his blessing, and that he sought truly to become like God.

In this light, Christ’s rejoinder “Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?” is not accusatory at all. Rather, perhaps the tone of the Savior’s response is similar to the Lord of vineyard in the allegory of the wild olive tree. After working fruitlessly for many, many seasons the Lord of the vineyard wept and asked his servant: “What more could I have done for my vineyard?”

I pray that we all, myself included, take advantage of our opportunities to give thanks to God and in doing so, become more like him. JC. Amen.