Noes for Sermon:Gratitude in a Culture of Complaint

I plan to complain about complaining.Complaints poison gratitude.

Outrage culture feeds complaint.Complaints emerge from anxiety often. Complaints often characterize marital communication.It certainlty applies to in-laws.

It seems to be a prized form of communication, one that is mistaken for being honest, candid, authentic. It blinds one to good points and options and presents a laser-like focus on issues. worse, these issues are usually about pmere preferences.I wish would we honor progress specifically instead of rotely saying the word. When I was born, parents were afraid of the polio summers. When I was born, racial segregation in public schools just went down. Few organizations suffer from this malady as much as congregations. Ungrateful is a nasty word. Telling someone to be grateful for all they have rarely works and may well increase complaints about what one lacks Having one’s cup runneth over does not seem to increase a sense of gratitude Ungrateful/Ungracious is a nasty word-good.

Grace and gratitude are core elements in the Reformed tradition. It is difficult for us to accept a gift without wanting reciprocity. Thanks does not come naturally. Remember the look on your child’s face when you tried to teach them to say thank you for something they were convinced they deserved and should be given in the first place.

one of two of you may be as old as me. Remember the fear of polio summers? Remember lying in a dark room because of measles? Psalms have plenty of laments but plenty of prayers of thanks, of gratitude-Jesus gave thanks and so do we at the Communion table.

Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet.” ― Thích Nhất Hạnh, Peace Is Every Step

“In the end, though, maybe we must all give up trying to pay back the people in this world who sustain our lives. In the end, maybe it's wiser to surrender before the miraculous scope of human generosity and to just keep saying thank you, forever and sincerely, for as long as we have voices.” ― Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love“If the only prayer you said was thank you, that would be enough.” ― Meister Eckhart-

Gratitude therefore takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to new wonder and to praise of the goodness of God. For the grateful person knows that God is good, not by hearsay but by experience. And that is what makes all the difference.” ― Thomas Merton

Spiritual practices-gottmann- healthy relationship has five positive interactions for every one complaint or criticism-Indeed one could define best friends as those to whom we complain about spouses-v. The Irish wedding blessing of no cross word ever being uttered about the spouse in public-example in CC piece-wrote a thank you note a day practice can create a pattern or even a feeling over time

the antural world breaqthes praise and thanks every wakign momebnt-we cna learn

A basic word for thanksgiving in the NT is eucharist Sometimes, it is the same word as grace itself. In Hebrew the word  In Hebrew it is often related to worship.  or to bless. A balanced prayer life that includes thanksgiving is a good start. The great theologian Bart simpson said we paid for this stuff ourselves,, so thanks for nothing. Jimmy Stewart in Shenandoah:Lord, we cleared this land. We plowed it, sowed it, and harvest it. We cook the harvest. It wouldn't be here and we wouldn't be eating it if we hadn't done it all ourselves. We worked dog-bone hard for every crumb and morsel, but we thank you Lord just the same for the food we're about to eat, amen. Mom experience with Protestant grace.