thankful.

today, i think to myself how the world lacks thankfulness, and i too far often join them. 

however, i resolve that i am going to be more thankful. you know some people get this idea of thankfulness that is due to a trip to a third world country, or they experience someone's life that is far less substantial (perhaps in comfort), than their own, but that is not what happened to me. i seriously woke up thinking, wow, it's great to be alive. what a privilege. it is intriguing to me why i would think this, i surveyed my current situation and saw so many things that are not going "perfect" or something close to awesome. but instead, i found myself valuing the people in my life, the places i have been, the experiences i have had, the house i live. it was just this ridiculous revealing to me about the beauty of life and its goodness that is in the world. 

i got curious and looked up some thoughts about thankfulness, wondering where i might have drawn this perspective from: what i found was momentous. through my thinking, i recalled that in koine greek, the word for thanks is correlated to the Eucharist. this is another word for communion or sacrament. and that's when it hit me. when i am communing with others, God, and the world and realizing their/His/its value, i can experience thankfulness. my thankfulness to them runs far deeper than the surface, but rather becomes a moment of connection, where i relate to them in all possible manners on and below the surface. meaning this: thankfulness is never about the external situation, but about the internal realization that good grace has been spoken. which is exactly what eucharist means: eu means good, and charist means grace. more thoughts on this can be explained in "what's so amazing about grace" by philip yancy (which i read about a year ago), but as i write this blog, i am brought back to his perspective on this experience of thanks. 

so thanks. 

- peaks out.