Growing Gratitude

I just got home, and I must confess, I had to convince myself that it still indeed is Wednesday night. It feels like somewhere around next Tuesday. 

But I stayed late at work tonight for a great purpose, and I took a thing or two away from the evening to boot. The Wendt Scholars decided to show the movie The Blind Side as a part of Gratitude Week. I was asked to lead discussion, and I left it pretty loose, not really sure what specifically we were going to talk about. As I listened to students discuss the movie, I viewed some of the scenes in a brand new way. 

Gratitude, as shown in The Blind Side, is something that grows between individuals. I would go so far as to say, it can be taught. One of the most telling scenes in the movie is on Thanksgiving Day. The family dives into a store-bought Thanksgiving meal and promptly plops in front of the TV for a day of football. Michael quietly fills his plate and takes his place at the dining room table. He is grateful for the meal, the shelter, and all that the family has shared with him. The family, taking for granted the day as a vacation day to enjoy in front of the tube, suddenly notices his place at the table and go to join him. In that moment, you can feel the family realizing how much they have been given, learning from Michael how to express in a heartfelt way, their gratitude. His gratitude changed their lives. 

This knew found knowledge gives me something to chew on. The mere act of expressing gratitude can change others' lives. It can grow in someone else's heart. It can rub off on them. Doesn't this fact make you want to run out and share how grateful you are for the people, things, and circumstances of your life? It also makes me want to keep watch for how others express gratitude as to allow the attitude of thankfulness can grow and expand and rub off into my heart. This gratitude thing is more than just a little bit of giving thanks. It's a condition of the heart to be shared, grown, expanded, and lived into.