August 28th 2022: Laughing in Astonishment
There can be little doubt that living with gratitude is a path to good health. We are told this by science, all different cultures and even our folk wisdom: “You can be happy with what you got.”
But living with gratitude can sometimes be difficult. Sometimes our circumstances and pressures of life make it too difficult to live with gratitude. We must never force gratitude on those suffering. Insead we must offer solidarity in authentic relationshi[p
Another obstacle is that sometimes the state of the world makes gratitude seem foolish and silly. While we must be realists who meet injustice with loving action, we must also reject cynicism and be careful not to follow into the trap of dissatisfaction and nihilism. The state of the world, while dire, must not also be allowed to drain real pleasures from our lives,
We will find roads to a better life by rejecting cynicism and instead committing to honouring our entanglement and living a life of gratitude We must, as the poet Mary Oliver says, “Keep company always with those who say ‘Look!’ and laugh in astonishment, and bow their heads.”