Gratitude is affirmative, for it acknowledges the presence of good. When one is thankful for benefits received, he recognizes that good has been conferred on him. All good comes from God, and because gratitude acknowledges the presence of good, it brings into human experience the ever-operative divine law which opens the way for the unfoldment of more good. May it not properly be stated, then, that gratitude is an element of the good soil of which Jesus spoke in the parable of the sower when he said that some seed "fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold"? (Luke 8:8.) It is well for us to look deeply into the subject of gratitude with a sincere desire to cultivate the good soil which bears fruit so abundantly.
To the Christian Scientist, genuine gratitude is much more than a vague feeling of appreciation. It is an understanding recognition of what is known to be an unfoldment from the divine source. Then in the consideration of gratitude one may well uplift his thought by turning first to the Supreme Being to acknowledge heartfelt thanks to Him.
Christian Scientists are grateful to God because they know something of His nature as the origin, ruler, and preserver of universal good—yes, the very fountainhead of all blessings. They are grateful to God as divine Life, the creator of all real existence and its eternal harmony; as divine Truth, the producer of all truthfulness and the facts of true being; as divine Love, for imparting all loving-kindness and good will; as divine Soul, for evolving all spiritual sense and the beauty of holiness; as divine Spirit, for sending forth all spiritual substance and its infinite riches; as divine Mind, for unfolding all intelligent consciousness and its right ideas; and as divine Principle, for causing all perfection and the divine activity and law that dwell forever with it.
