I write this from the heart of Muskoka, enjoying my family vacation. It is a great time to renew relationships and reflect on what is important in life. The self-induced stresses of life float away on the lake with my nieces as we sit and wait for a favourable breeze to fill our sails again. We talk and drift for hours until finally a wind picks up and graciously draws us home.
It is heartfelt gratitude that makes these moments significant. Not something we can grasp at or manufacture but something that can only be received as a gift. These people, this moment, this place... a gift.
Gratitude lies at the heart of true spirituality. It is only gratitude that allows us to receive the gift of others and most importantly it is gratitude that allows us to receive the ultimate other; namely God. When we grasp at or try to manufacture spirituality we are left embracing the lesser gods of pleasure, power, wealth or honour. While all these are good, yet they don't fulfil us totally. Just read the tabloids to see how pleasure, power, wealth and honour can quickly turn and abandon those they once embrace.
Take time this summer and throughout the year to give thanks to God for all things. This essential gratitude allows us to live in relationship with God and others.