Finding Grace in Gratitude

With Thanksgiving approaching, it’s as good a time as any to be thinking about how to show gratitude to the significant people in your life and for what you have managed to achieve.

But what is gratitude? The word comes from the Latin gratia, from which we also get the words “gratis” and “grace.” There is, then, a close relationship between gratitude and grace, i.e., what we did not earn but were freely given.

Whether it’s a lucky break, the family we were born into, the friends we made, or just happening to be in the right place at the right time for an opportunity that changed our life for the better, we have all benefited from what is outside of our control, for which one can’t help but be grateful. However, “grace” also means courteous goodwill and forgiveness shown to others, both of which flow out of feelings of gratitude.

I hope you take time this weekend to be grateful for whom and what you have to be thankful, finding in gratitude your own feelings of grace under whatever pressures may come.

Enjoy these articles. Sending you sincere wishes for a truly memorable Thanksgiving.