Thanksgiving is Appreciation

To be thankful is a spiritual activity - it is healing, clarifying, uplifting, empowering. Nothing says: "I'm alive!" as "I'm grateful!" To nurture an awareness of good is putting us right into the atmosphere of good. The law of God is a law of the certain, continuous unfoldment of good.

At a time of trial there is simply more to experience of the infinite goodness already at hand, to grow in grace, to understand a new aspect of the unchanging nature of divine Love. Your life is growing in front of you. Gratefully to acknowledge God, good, in the midst of a trying experience is to rob error of its claim to victory. And this cannot be done by social skills – it is the real deal of doing and being.
 
In "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mary Baker Eddy assures us:

„The good you do and embody gives you the only power obtainable.“

So thankfulness is not the icing on the cake: It is the cake.

To expand my understanding of gratitude I add a word for it each thanksgiving season. This season it is "appreciation". You might be interested to know that "to appreciate" literally means to move towards what is precious. We estimate the quality of something by moving towards it (a closer look), and that has the general effect of a rise in value. So moving towards what is precious increases it's worth or value for us by seeing it for what it truly is, f.e. a piece of jewelry or a delicious dessert or a gift that is waiting to be unwrapped. Appreciation. 

So let's get really close to God. Give fidelity and precision a chance. Spend time with a close-up look of divine Love and enjoy the upgrade of gratitude in your life. I love the idea of a "gratitude barometer" in my heart, and for this season it has become an "appreciation barometer". I'd rather inspect that than the circumstances I am in or my general state of being. The "appreciation barometer" tells me always what I need to know.

So, isn't appreciation a great explanation for thanksgiving? We move towards what is precious and see its infinite worth. And the proper response to Good is appreciation - and a standing ovation.

Happy Thanksgiving!