The book of Luke in the Bible reports that ten individuals with leprosy asked for help from Jesus, who had been demonstrating the healing power that accompanies an understanding of God. He cured all ten of them (see Luke 17:11–19). But only one of the ten returned to thank him. That is, all ten were blessed, but only one acknowledged the blessing.
What did the one who returned gain that the others lost? In other words, what difference does it make if we express gratitude for the good we receive? The Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, answers that question with this simple passage: “Are we really grateful for the good already received? Then we shall avail ourselves of the blessings we have, and thus be fitted to receive more” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 3).
Nine of the lepers took the blessing they’d received and walked away, uninterested in what had healed them. By returning, the one who gave thanks showed that his gaze had been turned heavenward, toward Principle, God, the very source of all healing. The other nine lepers were like miners panning for gold in a stream. They were healed—they found some flakes and nuggets that had been carried downstream from their source. But the grateful one wasn’t satisfied sifting through the mud to see what scraps he could find. He turned to the source itself, the vein from which the gold flakes, the healing, had come.
A material vein of gold will eventually run out. But the blessings God bestows are infinite. If our gaze and our trust are directed earthward, toward matter and materialism—whatever would claim to be either the opposite of good or the absence of it—we are denying God as the only creator and source of all true being. Looking to matter for substance and power will inevitably limit the good, even on the human plane of existence, that we are able to perceive. It’s not that good isn’t there—it always is. It’s that we’re blinding ourselves to it.
When we acknowledge something, we accept that it exists or is true. Before we can see God’s blessings made fully manifest in our lives, we must acknowledge that both God, divine Love, and those blessings are real, that they exist. To the extent that we believe in the reality of matter, we disbelieve in the good God bestows. But when we begin to understand that man, God’s expression, is as wholly spiritual as God, his creator, our faith in matter begins, however slowly, to dissolve.
Of course, at this point none of us has wholly given up our belief in the reality of matter! But when we turn Godward in humble receptivity, we allow Christ, the true idea of God, to operate in our consciousness to begin destroying our faith in matter and opening our eyes to God’s ever-present good embracing us in perfect health and safety. One definition of perfect is “lacking nothing essential to the whole” (The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language). Mrs. Eddy writes, “. . . an acknowledgment of the perfection of the infinite Unseen confers a power nothing else can” (Unity of Good, p. 7).
This is why gratitude for the good God, divine Love, provides—an acknowledgment of what Love is and what it does for us—is so powerful. Gratitude grounds us in God’s goodness, strengthening our understanding of its presence and power at every moment. It lessens our fear when we are confronted by challenges, because we know God, Spirit, is able to meet whatever need we may be facing. And it’s empowering to realize that this is true for us because it’s what’s true for everyone.
I once found myself suffering from what appeared to be a bad case of seasonal allergies—something I had never experienced before. As I prayed for freedom from the problem, I suddenly realized that even as I was working to see for myself that allergies are no part of God’s kingdom, I was subconsciously accepting the claim that this was an issue other people had. I needed to acknowledge God was indeed perfect and that all of His creation expressed that perfection. I was suddenly filled with a sense of wonder and awe at the magnitude of God’s work, immediately followed by a deep feeling of gratitude. The allergy symptoms began to disappear. Within a few days—though the same plants were still producing pollen—the symptoms were gone, never to return.
The textbook of Christian Science opens by telling us that, when we lean on God, our days are “big with blessings” (Science and Health, p. vii). To lean on Him is to acknowledge Him, and to acknowledge Him is to be grateful. If gratitude is the price of blessings, it seems worth it!
Lisa Rennie Sytsma
Associate Editor
