I offer thanks, not because it might seem like I have “more” when someone else has “less,” but because I’m grateful that I can “choose again” and come back to a loving and peaceful perception rather than the ego’s fearful perception. I’m grateful that these shifts in perception bring me out of pain, and help me remember that there is nothing to fear. I’m grateful for my Inner Teacher, that quiet still Voice inside that is nudging me to turn to it because it is the only thing that makes me happy, and I’m grateful that others can experience this same Inner Voice in their own way. I’m grateful for what we TRULY are (LOVE), and that we suffer less as we realize this more. And I’m grateful to share the path of awakening with Mighty Companions (YOU!).
The word “gratitude” shows up 98 times in “A Course in Miracles.” Enjoy these beautiful snippets on “gratitude” from “A Course in Miracles:”
LESSON 195 :Love is the way I walk in gratitude.
Gratitude is a lesson hard to learn for those who look upon the world amiss. The most that they can do is see themselves as better off than others. And they try to be content because another seems to suffer more than they. How pitiful and deprecating are such thoughts! For who has cause for thanks while others have less cause? And who could suffer less because he sees another suffer more? Your gratitude is due to Him alone Who made all cause of sorrow disappear throughout the world.
It is insane to offer thanks because of suffering. But it is equally insane to fail in gratitude to One Who offers you the certain means whereby all pain is healed, and suffering replaced with laughter and with happiness. Nor could the even partly sane refuse to take the steps which He directs, and follow in the way He sets before them, to escape a prison that they thought contained no door to the deliverance they now perceive. (Lesson 195)
Miracles should inspire gratitude, not awe. You should thank God for what you really are. The children of God are holy and the miracle honours their holiness, which can be hidden but never lost. (T-1.I.31)
Your gratitude to your brother is the only gift I want. I will bring it to God for you, knowing that to know your brother is to know God. If you are grateful to your brother, you are grateful to God for what He created. Through your gratitude you come to know your brother, and one moment of real recognition makes everyone your brother because each of them is of your Father. Love does not conquer all things, but it does set all things right. (T-4.VI.7)
You are being blessed by every beneficent thought of any of your brothers anywhere. You should want to bless them in return, out of gratitude. You need not know them individually, or they you. (T-5.Intro.3)
The Love of God is in everything He created, for His Son is everywhere. Look with peace upon your brothers, and God will come rushing into your heart in gratitude for your gift to Him. (T-10.V.7)
Only appreciation is an appropriate response to your brother. Gratitude is due him for both his loving thoughts and his appeals for help, for both are capable of bringing love into your awareness if you perceive them truly. (T-12.I.6)
