Pre-gratitude might seem like an odd concept, but I challenge you to give it some thought.
Pre-gratitude involves anticipating gratitude, looking for gratitude, expecting gratitude. It primes my soul for gratitude. And it’s really about more than gratitude. I could generalize it to all the fruit of the Spirit. Kindness and goodness and gentleness are not responses. They aren’t reactive as much as they flow through a source. Yes, sometimes we have to muster all the strength that we can to respond a certain way because of a situation, feelings, or baggage, but the pattern we should be fostering is one that constantly yields, cultivates, and nurtures the best characteristics – those most deeply rooted in our souls.
These aren’t qualities, the responses, that we can force. In the beginning, we try to teach them as a standard, encouraging them as valued characteristics, but as we age, we handle standards in a couple ways. We may get uncomfortable with them and rationalize why we no longer need to hold them. In most cases, we get judgmental, stating they’re old-fashioned or unintelligent or rudimentary, as if people get past them because of how smart or mature they are. But maybe the exact opposite is the case. Maybe people leave important characteristics behind without using their adult minds. Instead, if we engage and understand things differently as our minds are capable, there will certainly be some changes, but sometimes the changes come in our yielding and application not in the standard or characteristic itself.
When we make room in our maturity to grow concepts, beliefs, and characteristics, something beautiful happens. But I’ll be the first to admit it’s also a lot of difficult work. The cultivation of anything productive always is. There is uncomfortable pruning, nearly impossible patience, wisdom-timed harvest, and shared celebration. And this is where we can loop back to pre-gratitude.
When we wait for specific situations to respond with gratitude, we aren’t fostering a posture of gratitude; we are waiting to be spoiled. We are passive, not engaged. We don’t need a situation to be grateful. A thing, person, position, bank balance, or influence are not the trigger to gratitude. We can absolutely be grateful for such things, but if we are gratitude-dependent on them, be alert.
Gratitude anticipates the possibilities. It hopes, not in a unrealistic way but with a lean forward position that doesn’t allow for staleness. It’s as if there is a funnel that invites us to focus on what’s coming, and as we walk through a season, we get to simultaneously reflect with gratitude and continue to anticipate gratitude once again. I certainly don’t feel grateful for everything I experience. Sometimes I feel more like sitting beside the road in a big mud puddle while others drive by, but it’s not for long. And perhaps that just gives my gratitude some context. After all, shaking off that mud is a pretty good primer for the gratitude to come!
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