My attitude is gratitude 

It is good to give thanks to God says regular Network Norfolk columnist Reverend Philip Young.

God has given us life in all its fullness and richness. Everything that we are - all that has been given to us, comes from God. We have been given everything that we need and more.
 
Our God is a God of infinite love and compassion.
 
So how come that sometimes we feel separated from God?
 
How come we feel cut off and in a dark place?
 
It is not because God is not there. God is always present. It is our own actions and our selfish ego that has made this separation.
 
God is waiting for us. He waits for us to return to our source and our home. Like the story of the Prodigal Son, God is our Father who is longing for us to come back.
 
One of the best ways to reconnect to God is to be thankful for all that has been given to us. When you wake up in the morning, before you do anything else, become aware of all the things that you can give thanks for.
 
Gratitude is a great way to bring healing into your life.
 
Saying thank you is a good way of reconnecting with God. The humble creature reconnecting with their Glorious Creator.
 
The Creator outpours himself into his creation. The creature pours out their gratitude to their Creator. The circle of love is complete. All is made whole. Health is restored to the separated creature.
 
Jesus came to restore this wholeness. His life, like no other, is a light shining in a dark place. Helping us to reconnect with our Creator.  Jesus and the Father are one. Jesus is fully aware of the love of his father. He returns that love with all of his body, mind, soul and heart.
 
Jesus is divine and human. He shows us that his divinity and his humanity are connected with God. He shows us that our humanity and divinity are also our way back to God. From God he came and to God he returns. In the same way we come from God and to God we return.
 
In the most important and central act of his coming to us he shows us the way of death and resurrection. We put to death the selfish in us, that which keeps us separate from God. We rise with him as new creatures. Fully in touch with God.
 
Jesus is the Light of the world. He brings enlightenment to us, God's creatures.
 
This is something to make us eternally grateful.
 
Thanks be to God who loves us from the beginning and for ever.
 
My attitude is gratitude.
 
Will you too give thanks to God?
 

Philip is an Anglican, Quaker, and a member of the Third Order of Franciscans.
Until July 2014 he was the Diocesan Environmental Officer for the Norwich Diocese. He is now devoting himself to prayer, study and writing.

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