gratitude

The midweek lunch-time service was barely over before I was being advised today of another bereavement.

This was sudden, unexpected, distressing.

A man who loved his garden suffering a heart attack while out in his garden and dying in the place he loved the best. It's the way we'd all choose if we got the choice (which we don't) and if we have to die (which we do). Swift and painless. And doing what we love doing best.

But it's hard for those that are left. Such grief is overwhelming at the best of times. The suddenness, though, of such sorrow only serves to make the more acute the pain that's felt. It's very hard.

The lady so suddenly widowed is a lovely, gracious person. She was bearing it well, for all that her world had been rocked to the core and her mind and her heart were all over the place.

"We were very lucky," she volunteered. She was looking for the positives. Even in the depths of grief her gratitude was clear.

I think that's what the Scriptures mean when they exhort us so constantly always to be thankful.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures for ever. [Psalm 136.1]

Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. [Psalm 103.2]

Always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. [Eph.5.20]

But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ. [1 Cor.15.57]

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. [Phil.4.6]

In everything. Thanksgiving.

It's a grace which the Holy Spirit cultivates within our hearts.