Gratitude: Why Giving Thanks Is the Key to Our Well-Being. (Cornelius Plantinga) - Review
GRATITUDE: Why Giving Thanks Is the Key to Our Well-Being. By Cornelius Plantinga. Grand Rapids: MI: Brazos Press, 2024. 164 pages.
I was taught, as were many of my
generation, that it is important to say please and thank you. The propriety of
saying thank you is true even when a grandparent or an aunt gives you an ugly
sweater. While this is a valuable lesson
we might wonder if this word about etiquette is the same thing as experiencing
gratitude. To answer the question, we need to define what gratitude involves
and the value gratitude might bring to our lives. To answer that question, we need to ask what
gratitude is. A further question has to do with the value that gratitude might
bring to our lives.
Several years ago, Diana Butler
Bass offered an answer to the question about the nature and value of gratitude
with her book Grateful: The Transformative Power of Giving Thanks. In
that book, Diana noted that while many people are anxious, angry, and
resentful, most reported being grateful. If that is true, then there seems to
be a disconnect between the two. However, in the end, she wrote that gratitude
can be transformative. Since we live in a seemingly anxious, angry, and
resentful period of history, we need that transformative power of gratitude
more now than ever. Six years after Diana released her book, Cornelius
Plantinga, a senior research fellow at the Calvin Institute of Christian
Worship and former President of Calvin Theological Seminary, has written a very
similar book simply titled Gratitude. He also believes that gratitude can be transformative. If nothing
else, gratitude can be good for you. If that’s true, then perhaps being grateful
has benefits for the larger world.
Being thankful stands at the
foundation of the Christian faith. The word Eucharist, a term applied to the
Lord's Supper, comes from the Greek eucharistia, which means to give
thanks. The Eucharist is a foundational sacrament of the Christian faith. With
that in mind, Plantinga points out that in the center of the word, eucharist is
the Greek word charis, which can be translated as grace and thus
gratitude. He concludes in his introduction that Christianity should be
understood as a religion of God's grace (p. 3). Plantinga devotes his first
chapter to answering the question of how gratitude might be a foundational
element of the Christian faith. He writes that "gratitude is a glad sense
of being gifted with something by someone and thus being indebted to the
giver" (p. 7). It might be accompanied by a warm feeling, but not
necessarily. Nevertheless, what Plantinga notes here is that in many ways
gratitude is or perhaps should be a disposition. It can even be a character
trait if it defines a person's nature. Gratitude involves both being blessed by
someone, including God and therefore being indebted. Maybe that can be repaid
with a simple thank you, but maybe it requires more. I think of all the people
who have contributed to my life, the people to whom I am truly indebted.
Perhaps there is no repayment possible, but we can find ways of expressing
gratitude, perhaps by paying it forward.
If gratitude can be, and perhaps
should be, a disposition or a character trait for a Christian, then how do we
get gratitude? That's the question Plantinga asks in Chapter 2. In answering
that question the author offers several possibilities, including spiritual ones.
Developing that disposition might start with offering prayers at the dinner
table. He also mentions the Jewish practice of the Passover, which includes the
word Dayenu. That word speaks of something being enough. He writes that
"The Dayenu is a remarkable device. With its wonderful interior linkages,
it piles up examples of God's generosity, celebrating each in turn, and thus
piling up occasions for Israel's gratitude" (pp. 18-19). Ultimately
gratitude emerges from observation and reflection on God's acts of goodness.
While there are several ways of cultivating gratitude in the end our ability to
develop gratitude is rooted in God's grace. Recognizing that gratitude doesn’t
come naturally to us, we need “the gracious power of the Holy Spirit to work in
my heart and inspire my thanks” (p. 29).
While there are steps we can take
to “get gratitude,” the next question that arises is "What blocks my
gratitude?" In Chapter 3 Plantinga suggests there are both innocent and
less innocent blockages to gratitude. The innocent blockages include such
things as clinical anxiety and shame. It could even involve the attitude of the
giver, such that the giver of the gift seeks to manipulate the recipient. On
the other hand, there are less innocent ones such as cynicism, a sense of
self-sufficiency, apathy, greed, resentment, and entitlement. Plantinga
ultimately asks, with so many potential blockages it's a wonder that anyone is
grateful. Yet many are.
Having defined gratitude, noted different
ways of cultivating it, and the possible blockages, both innocent and
not-so-innocent, in Chapter 4, Plantinga addresses what might happen to us if
we cultivate gratitude. Among the benefits Plantinga identifies are
consolation, contentment, joy, and generosity (yes gratitude leads to
generosity). We might expect such benefits, but what about healthier hearts?
Apparently, some studies suggest grateful people have healthier hearts (though
of course, we all know ungrateful people who live long lives without heart
trouble, nonetheless this is interesting), lower blood pressure, and more. But,
when it comes to experiencing gratitude, we should not let this be a self-help
project. We should offer gratitude because it’s the right thing to do, even if
we sleep better as a result.
Plantinga is a theologian so it is
natural that he would want to bring in the Bible. So Plantinga asks what the
Bible might say about gratitude (Chapter 5). When it comes to the Bible, suggests
that gratitude can be triggered by memories of goodness. We see this connection
between gratitude and memories of goodness in the Passover celebration as well
as the Eucharist/Lord's Supper. This pattern is found throughout Scripture as
God calls both Israel and the church to remember what they have to be thankful
for. He suggests that gratitude is rooted in being raised with Christ, thus making
the connection with the death and resurrection of Jesus. Gratitude is also an
expression of humanity’s creation in the image of God and is an aspect of Christian
unity.
After laying a theological
foundation by looking at what the Bible has to say about gratitude, Plantinga moves
in Chapter 6 to answer the question of why we should thank God. The answer is
found in several places including the gifts we receive in ordinary life as well
as God's creation and God's grace to us as sinners. When it comes to giving
thanks, as Plantinga writes in Chapter 7, things could be worse. In other
words, gratitude is compatible with lament. Biblically, Plantinga points us to
Jesus' suffering on the cross, reminding us that God understands our sufferings.
God is not aloof to our suffering. So, we might find light even amid darkness.
So, we can be grateful even during difficult times. There is always something
to be grateful for.
Having laid the foundations in the
preceding chapters of Plantinga’s Gratitude, we are ready to consider
the message of Chapter 8: "Savoring and Celebrating." Grateful people
savor things, perhaps as simple as a cup of coffee. They savor good things like
a good book, beauty in nature, and many other things. As we savor the good
things in life, we can then turn to celebration, as many Psalms invite us to
do. There are lots of ways of celebrating things in our lives such as freedom
on the Fourth of July or a sports team's parade after winning a championship. Plantinga
suggests that savoring and celebrating can overlap, but the difference is that
celebration adds drama. So, “In celebration we don’t simply enjoy a good thing.
We make a fuss over it. We get excited about it. We call other people’s
attention to it. We raise our voices over it. ‘Shout for joy to the Lord’,
Psalm 98 says” (p. 114). Grateful people savor and celebrate.
Not only do grateful people savor
and celebrate, but they also take care of things (Chapter 9). Yes, we take care
of the things we are grateful for, whether it is a beloved dog, a marriage, or
nature. Grateful people take care of their faith. In fact, he suggests that
"Good works are the best evidence of our gratitude to God." (p. 137).
Chapter 10 summarizes what we've explored using the Thanksgiving image of the
cornucopia, inviting us to ponder all the blessings we have received. The
foundation for this contemplation is the call to seek first God's realm, for if
we do so we'll "never run out of good things to do" (p. 151).
Cornelius Plantinga reveals in this
readable and succinct book he simply titles Gratitude that gratitude is
a central theme of the Christian faith. It is part of the transformative nature
of the Christian faith at its best. It is celebrated at the Lord’s Table as we
give thanks to God for all of God’s gifts, including the presence of Jesus and
the gift of the Holy Spirit. While being grateful has positive effects on our lives,
including our bodies, such that grateful people often live flourishing lives,
it’s much bigger than that. It has more universal effects. If this is true, as Plantinga
believes that Scripture teaches, then it is a good thing to cultivate a disposition
of gratitude. With this book on Gratitude, Cornelius
Plantinga seeks to help us cultivate that disposition, for as we do so, we seek
the realm of God.
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