Gratitude: The Root of Joy (Part 2)

“The root of joy is gratefulness...” Brother David Steindl-Rast asserts. “It is not joy that makes us grateful; it is gratitude that makes us joyful."

Being grateful seems to open the door to more and more blessings!  But what--exactly--does the word mean?  We know what it implies but lets examine the etymology for greater understanding of this enriching virtue.

The etymology suggests:

• Gratitude—‘quality of condition of being grateful’ (Oxford English Dictionary Online)
• Grateful—full of grace (1828 Webster’s; Oxford English Dictionary Online 2010)
• Grace—‘free unmerited love and favor of God’ (1828 Webster’s Dictionary)

…therefore to be grateful is to be full of grace.

Gratitude is a prerequisite to joy, Brother Steindl-Rast says in the quote above. 

Hold that thought and come with me to the Mount over there.  The one with the crowd of people.  The one where the Galilean rabbi is giving a sermon.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness,” the Saviour tells them, “for they shall be filled…”

Filled with what?  Not with food, surely—for they are not hungry and thirsty for physical food (this time round)…

“…filled with the Holy Ghost…” the risen Saviour clarified to the Nephites several years later. 

The Holy Ghost…a comforter, a teacher, a testifier, a grace-giver.  One of the fruits of having the Holy Ghost’s presence in our life is—yes, you guessed it—JOY!

Thus in opening our hearts in gratitude we open them to grace…even the free unmerited love of the Godhead through the Holy Spirit.  And in receiving the Spirit’s grace we also open the door of our heart to a host of other renewing and enlivening virtues…joy among them.