“Gratefulness
is the inner gesture of giving
meaning to our life by receiving life
as gift. The deepest meaning of any given moment lies in the fact that it is
given. Gratefulness recognizes, acknowledges, and celebrates this meaning.”[1]
This quotation is by Br. David Steind-Rast, OSB, one of the most articulate
evangelists for gratitude, gratefulness, thanksgiving, and all those words that
convey a reaching out into the world with arms wide open.
The
spontaneous joy of engaging life’s nature as pure gift reminds me of the young
two-year-old son of some very good friends of mine, who–years ago now–unselfconsciously
brimmed over with life and mischief, climbing onto furniture and ledges with
way-too-risky abandon, a smile on his face and giggles as companions, hugging
people and things with the kind of joy that only children seem to be able to
display with unvarnished transparency. Every moment was precious, was now, was
embraced with love and palpable, infectious joy. Jesus’ words, “Let the
children come to me . . .” suddenly made lots of sense. Children live with raw
gratitude even while being significant recipients of the generosity of others. Both
are very much alive.
Gratitude
seems to me to be the flip side of generosity. With generosity, we express
actions and intentions of unconditional love; with gratitude we receive actions
and intentions of unconditional love. The best kinds of generosity are given
unasked, unexpected, and previously unknown. The best kinds of gratefulness are
received unasked, unexpected, and previously unknown. The most generous people
tend to be the most grateful, and vice
versa. Generosity and gratefulness appear to be two vectors of love’s
living dynamic.
These same
vectors are found in education and teachers. St. John Baptist de La Salle tells
his teachers: “Thank God for the grace he has given you . . . and calling you
to such a holy work of instructing children and leading them to piety.”[2]
And “Thank God, who has had the goodness to employ you to procure such an
important advantage for children.”[3]
But this invitation to teachers to be grateful is a notion that is actually
quite challenging. Our internal perspective may at times–among other
people, of course; not ourselves–run more along the lines of “These kids
should be grateful that they have me as a teacher . . . they don’t appreciate
all the work that I do for them, how much time I put into the classes, and what
I’ve given up to do this job well . . . they really don’t have a clue.” Such
thoughts are based on a transactional approach to teaching; I do this for them,
and they should do that for me. The vectors finally point inward.
Of course,
most veteran teachers, although unfortunately not all, sloughed off that old
cloak years ago and listen to such sentiments with a wry grin on their faces.
They walk into most classes with genuine and daily gratitude, because by virtue
of their years of experience they have been drawn into the deep generosity of
teaching with all of its concomitant joys and blessings. They know that they
plant seeds and that the growth comes from elsewhere. (Cf. 1 Cor. 3:6) Most
students are never seen again, and so they will never know if those seeds had
ever taken root. And if my experience is any indication of the experience of
others, the things that did take root may not even have been the most obvious
seeds. (I still wash and dry my hands like my 3rd grade teacher did
in the corner of the classroom every morning.) Diving into the kind of
arms-wide-open generosity that genuine teaching calls for cannot but coat one’s
life with the cumulative gratitude that only steady or great love can bring,
whether received or given.
Finally,
teachers must step out of the way, trusting the generosity of God’s movement in
the lives of their students. And that is something deserving our gratitude as
well. It’s not all up to us. "Teaching is cooperative art similar to the
nurturing that defines farming; involving watering, pruning where necessary,
etc. It consists in developing a respect for mystery, a capacity for trust, and
a skill in serious reflection. Through revelations and challenges, experiences
and analyses, insights and application, others are led to develop habits of
perception; to grind their lenses, as it were, so that the reality of God might
be seen in focus and encountered in the full light of truth. Once a path for
God is cleared and opened, the teacher steps aside and lets the mystery
commence."[4] Stepping aside is a most generous thing, and
gratitude for that particular thing may be the last seed dropped into students’
lives.
For a
gratitude kick start, watch the Louis Schwartzberg video “Gratitude Revealed”[5]
and listen to Br. David Steindl-Rast’s narration. There is no better invitation
to the joy of gratefulness.
[1]
Steind-Rast, David, Gratefulness, the
Heart of Prayer, Paulist Press. 1984. Pg. 207
[2] De
La Salle, John Baptist. Meditations by
St. John Baptist de La Salle. Landover, MD: Christian Brothers Conference,
1994. (MED 99.1) Pg. 183.
[3] Ibid.
(MED 193.1) Pg. 435.
[4] Nouwen,
Henri J.M. Creative Ministry. New
York, N.Y. Doubleday, 1971. Pg. 11.
