Reflection
Sometimes the people in our lives are so familiar to us that we take their love and goodness for granted. Sometimes the distractions of modern life have simply made it all too easy not to be in touch with them. Yet, They have taught us something about loving, trusting, forgiving, taking care of ourselves, and taking care of each other. They are those who at different times have given us moral and emotional support when we needed them. The significant people in our lives are among our greatest blessings. They are those who have loved us best and most unconditionally. Recognizing this with a sense of gratitude and expressing it is the glue that holds these relationships together.
Prayer
I give thanks to God always for all of you.
Action
Think of those in your life for whom you should give thanks. Express your gratitude in whatever ways are appropriate.
Suggested Reading
We give thanks to God always for all of you,
remembering you in our prayers,
unceasingly calling to mind your work of faith and labor of love
and endurance in hope of our Lord Jesus Christ,
before our God and Father,
knowing, brothers and sisters loved by God,
how you were chosen.
1Thes.1:1-5b
Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.
Marcel Proust
Make it a habit to tell people thank you. To express your appreciation, sincerely and without the expectation of anything in return. Truly appreciate those around you, and you’ll soon find many others around you. Truly appreciate life, and you’ll find that you have more of it.
Ralph Marston
Love is not just tolerance. It’s not just distant appreciation. It’s a warm sense of, ‘I am enjoying the fact that you are you.’
N. T. Wright
We must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives.
John F. Kennedy
Look closely and you will find that people are happy because they are grateful. The opposite of gratefulness is just taking everything for granted.
David Steindl-Rast
In the end, though, maybe we must all give up trying to pay back the people in this world who sustain our lives. In the end, maybe it’s wiser to surrender before the miraculous scope of human generosity and to just keep saying thank you, forever and sincerely, for as long as we have voices.
Elizabeth Gilbert
Gratitude is the memory of the heart.
Massieu
Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.
William Arthur Ward
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