Attentive and Grateful.

In order to help my students focus on God’s grace and on giving thanks, I like to ask them to look around the classroom and focus on one particular color (of my choosing!). I may tell them, for example, to take note of everything that is red. After a few moments I ask them to close their eyes and quietly recall all the red items they saw. And then comes the unexpected! While their eyes remain closed I tell them to name all the blue things they had seen. Most often, because they were so focused on the red, they missed all the blue.

I tell my students that this exercise is similar to what we focus on in daily life. We focus on the negative and tend to notice all that is going wrong in our world, and we miss God’s grace and presence before us. What we focus on is what we give power to! In focusing on the negative we miss God’s grace. I encourage my students to take time each night to reflect on two ways they experienced God’s grace that day and to give thanks for it. In doing so, they will not only be persons of thanksgiving and praise, but it will transform their attitude and actions as well as give them a better night’s sleep.

I am reminded of this activity and practice as I reflect on the opening of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians today. I truly believe Paul’s work as missionary was shaped by his ability to give thanks. In all his journeys, Paul understood the power and the challenge of being open to God’s grace.

As we continue on the journey this day, with attentive and grateful hearts may we share the Good News of God’s amazing grace with those we encounter.

C. Vanessa White. Taken from Give Us This Day.

C. Vanessa White is Assistant Professor of Spirituality and Ministry at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago and a member of the faculty at Xavier University’s Summer Institute for Black Catholic Studies.