Ryan R. Mei

Today I’m writing this article to redefine what it means to be grateful. I don’t think I’ve truly understood the meaning of being grateful until recently. Life has been hitting me with some heavy events and it is more important than ever to rely on God. In order to properly define what it means to be grateful, I think a reasonable approach would be to list out common misconceptions with gratitude, and provide examples of how things that don’t seem related to, or even paradoxical, tie in with gratitude. 

1. Gratitude does not mean listing your blessings. Quite the contrary, real gratitude begins with the realization that you will eventually die. Gratitude is the correct response to borrowed time. We all live on borrowed time. Every inhale and exhale that we produce is a leased function that we have, and it can be taken away from us from any moment. Nothing in this life is guaranteed.
2. You woke up today. This fact alone separates you from the other 150,000-170,000 people who unfortunately were not able to live to see the next day. If you have the ability to get out of bed, breathe, drink your favorite coffee brew,  and work hard in your occupation, you are ALREADY wealthy. Even if you have a hard life, it is still a usable life.
3. Suffering goes hand in hand with gratitude. A common nagging voice in the back of your head will tell you that “I’ll be grateful when life improves”. As Ray Dalio lays out in his book “Principles”, this is the lower level you thinking. The higher level you would think this instead: “The fact that I can endure proves that there is still life in me.” Pain is evidence that you are growing as a person, instead of avoiding it face it head on. Gratitude is not the absence of hardship, it’s the presence of meaning despite it.

Now I’m going to speak not in just my personal philosophical lens, but as an Orthodox Christian. Gratitude, in the Orthodox understanding, is not merely an attitude. It is a mode of being, a Eucharistic life. 

The world “Eucharist” itself means thanksgiving. True gratitude is not just recognizing that life is temporary, but also who gave it to you. Scripture teaches us to give thanks in everything: “In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” — 1 Thessalonians 5:18. Notice how this verse emphasizes giving thanks IN everything and not FOR everything? That’s the depth of gratitude we should have. 

Man was created to offer the world back to God in thanksgiving. Adam’s failure wasn’t just disobedience, it was also ingratitude as he received life but did not return it in communion. Christ, the new Adam however, restores this at the mystical supper. He doesn’t just merely eat the bread, he gave thanks and in this simple action revealed the true purpose of human life: To receive everything as a gift, and to return everything as an offering. 

Gratitude is not a feeling such as optimism. It is faithfulness in the reality that God has given you. 

Remember, You are not entitled to life, but you are called to communion with Him.