Star Word 2024 - Gratitude

I must confess that I was disappointed to get this word.  I feel like I already know enough about gratitude. On the other hand, if you've read my previous January star word posts, you know that I am often unhappy with my new words and still I learn from them once I get past the initial dissappointment. 

I've read the research, so I already know that gratitude is helpful for changing negative perspectives into positive ones, and that gratitude can be a mood lifter.  I tend to focus my gratitude lists on the current moment or day, so maybe I'll work on some broader-perspective gratitude lists.  Here's one for the past year:

2023 Thankfulness

1. LGBTQIA topics went from being the elephant in the room to being ok to talk about at our church.
2. I completed the third year of the three-year commitment of being moderator of the presbytery (one year as the moderator elect, one year as moderator, one year as past moderator).
3. My husband Rob got diagnosed with Crohn's and by December was starting to see some signs of remission from the second attempt with a biologic.
4. Rob had an MRI that showed a chiari malformation which would explain the symptoms that didn't quite fit with Crohn's.  Hopefully by the end of 2024 I'll be able to be thankful for getting that treated.
5. Finished my church office move into Zaccheus' treehouse, aka the theology thicket.
6. I finished the year in a better place mentally, spiritually, and emotionally than where I started.  Last year's star word "wholeness" helped me remember to keep working on that.

Whole-year gratitude is hard.  What am I forgetting?

Another aspect of gratitude that I could research more is toxic gratitude.  Sometimes gratitude does not help.  Some days maybe it's better to sit with whatever is in my head and heart and allow it to be whatever it needs to be.  What makes gratitude toxic?  Maybe when it's overly forced, or when it's forced on us by someone else with statements like, "Well, at least you're not...." 

In the beginning of this call to ministry, I was much better at writing thank-you notes than I am now.  Maybe part of this year's star word pondering will be to write more thank-you notes and try to use up all the unused packages of thank-you notes in my stationery box. (Which is also stationary when I'm not using it.)

This year, for a change, I did NOT start by looking for Bible verses about gratitude because I think I know most of them by heart already.  So this year, I'll be on the lookout for verses I'd forgotten or missed, or verses which add to or change my understanding of gratitude.  The verses that come to mind are either psalms or from Paul's letters. But what does Jesus say about gratitude?  In a quick gooogle, I find that Jesus blesses the bread at the feeding of the five thousand (eg. Matthew 15:36), and thanks God for hearing his prayer to raise Lazarus from the dead (John 11:41), but it seems more an assumption of attitude than a rule to follow like it is in Paul's writings.

So, despite my initial dislike of this word, still room to grow.

Thanks, God.

P.S. In 2023 I began the practice of attempting to end every blog and sermon with a "Thanks, God."

P.P.S. I'd love to hear your thoughts on gratitude!