Get an air conditioner. (For your soul!)

Maybe we’ve got it wrong. This New Year’s resolution idea. We all know the numbers. No-one sticks with their ‘resolutions’. It’s time for something new. 

Try gratitude. Never underestimate the power of thanksgiving. It can change your world, air-condition your soul, shape your future.

Saying ‘grace’ is about giving thanks before you eat the food in front of you. Amongst the funniest comedy of errors ever in a movie is Ben stiller  (aka Greg Gaylord), saying ‘grace’ in ‘Meet the Parents’ at the future in-laws dinner table. He quotes line by line the verse from a song from the 1971 folk/rock opera, Godspell, ‘Day by Day’. The future father in law, (Robert de Niro), bemused, called it ‘interesting’. 

I know giving thanks before you eat is real faith when your brother Paul has brewed up Chili ’n meatballs, but the whole idea of giving thanks for something before you’ve experienced it doesn’t seem logical. We give thanks after we’ve been given it, not before. However, this new idea is a practice from Scripture two thousand years old. Philippians 4:6 tells us to pray for things with thanksgiving. This means we’re thankful for the thing before we’ve got it. Other Scriptures say we should give thanks in and for ‘everything’. Seems crazy. Easy for the good things. Friends, good health, good weather, car parks. But the bad things?! Covid?! Lockdowns?! Financial disasters?! Apparently so. We will never see the silver lining, the opportunity, the good that could come out of the bad, unless we give thanks for it.

1Th 5:18  in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Eph 5:20  giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

G.K. Chesterton, a mentor of C.S. Lewis and amongst the greatest thinkers in recent history 'I would maintain that thanks is the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.’ 

Even when things are not going well, give thanks. This brings God into your situation. This forces you to discover the positives and transform your negatives into something good. Say 'Thank You God', now, for everything.

When we get grateful we turn on the air conditioner. Sour, stale attitudes get flushed out. Cool, refreshing air blows through our brain. If we’re overheating, we cool down. If we’re chilly, we warm up. Appreciation is the password into an audience with God. It opens doors pretty well everywhere.

Thank people publicly, privately. Thank those close to you, those distant from you. Thank family, friends and even enemies. Thank people with a small note or a long letter, a quick text, or a thoughtful gift. Thank people for whatever small or big benefit they’ve brought your way. People aren’t generally looking for thanks, but ingratitude is a very cold wind. Don’t feel entitled to anything. Feel grateful for everything. Especially the year ahead. Defeat that complaining weasel within with a life that overflows with thanksgiving. 

Whatever you’re hoping for this year, for yourself, for others, give thanks now for your brilliant future.