Gratitude is very powerful. It connects us with God's law of good, which is always at work. At the moment of need, it is already in motion, you might say, to bless and heal. Because of this, whenever I feel gratitude, I also feel a kind of spiritual momentum at work.
In the Bible, we see gratitude in action when Jesus publicly thanks God in the desert before he feeds over 5,000 people (see Matthew 14:15-21). And again when he thanks God before raising Lazarus from the dead (see John 11:1-46). In the wilderness, gratitude produced a spiritual momentum—impelling the activity of organizing the people, distributing the food, even collecting the leftovers. In both instances, Jesus' gratitude opened the way for the people to see evidence of divine Love caring for human needs.
One glorious September afternoon, gratitude helped me see and feel God right with me, when my sister and I were riding our bikes through a forest preserve. I had begun that morning just rejoicing in God's presence, and it spilled over into our bike ride. Riding along, I suddenly spotted two deer in the meadow to our right. I quickly pointed to them with one hand and braked with the other. The next instant I was face down on the warm blacktop. I said over and over to myself, "Thank you, Father," because although I felt stunned I was OK. I soon discovered, however, that I could open my eyes and move, but I didn't want to.
