Pastor Brian's Blog

In October, I will lead a 4-week series called “Grateful.”   It is based  on Diana Butler Bass' book, Grateful: The Transformative Power of Giving Thanks . Bass believes that a life of thankfulness creates the possibility of hope, joy, and love. Gratitude shapes who we are, guides our choices, and promotes a good society. In this series, we will explore the personal and social dimensions of gratitude that make us more aware of what is sacred in life and help us to be more committed to justice.   We feel gratitude when we receive a gift or encounter grace.   Gratitude is a choice that we can cultivate.   Shared gratitude promotes community and the common good.   Gratitude leads to a good society of mutual enrichment through giving and receiving. October 6 Grateful Hearts   Matthew 26:26-30 October 13 Grateful Habits Luke 17:11-18 October 20 Grateful Together Colossians 3:15-17 October 27 Grateful Circles Lu...

Gratitude is contagious.   Learning to say “thank you” is not just good manners, but it is also infectious.   Diana Butler Bass has observed in her research that good emotions are imitative.   She says: “If you're around a happy person, it’s contagious.   If you're around a person who does good deeds, you'll want to imitate those good deeds.   Gratitude is in that category.   If you're around people who are grateful, you're going to feel grateful yourself, and you're going to want to initiate acts that cause others to feel grateful.” 1 Thankfulness is both an inner feeling and a social act.   By cultivating gratitude, we can change the world around us.   To do so, says Butler Bass, we need to remember that God’s abundance is meant to be shared as gifts of God that we pass among us.   She puts it this way: “Gifts are the nature of the universe itself, those things we have received from God or the natural order or what-hav...