Proceedings of the North American Academy of Liturgy 2020

Berakah Response The Relationality of Gratitude Joyce Ann Zimmerman, C.PP.S. Joyce Ann Zimmerman, C.PP.S., Ph.D., S.T.D., is the director of the Institute for Liturgical Ministry in Dayton, Ohio; an adjunct professor of liturgy; a frequent speaker and facilitator of workshops; and an award-winning author of numerous books and articles on liturgy and spirituality.

Thank you. Two simple words. Hopefully, we say it often in all kinds of circumstances. People congratulate us, we respond with “Thank you.” We receive a gift, we say or write “Thank you.” A friend helps us with a project, we would be remiss not to say “Thank you.” Texts for NAAL Proceedings are submitted on time, the editor (or the Delegate for Seminars) sends a relieved “Thank you.” In these situations and countless others, from the time we are quite small, we learn to acknowledge the generosity or kindness or helpfulness of another with a simple “Thank you.” As a child, when my siblings and I would receive gifts at birthday or Christmas, my mother had an unwritten rule: We wrote thank you notes before we enjoyed the gift. Such a good habit she taught us! Thank you. A simple response to a particular event, an active response to the generosity and goodness of another.

As important as these two words—thank you—are, their frequent and appropriate repetition goes much further than a simple exchange. Saying them often enough leads to an inner disposition having much more import than a simple expression of appreciation. A habit of saying thank you forms us in a relationality—a community of persons—beyond casual exchange, beyond concrete external circumstances. We human beings, by nature, are not and cannot be solipsistic. The limited relationality of thank you, when saying it often, leads to a deeper and enduring relationality: gratitude. Thank you arises in a singular instance; gratitude is the habit of grace that helps us transcend ourselves by making clear to us that sources of sheer goodness and meaningful happiness lie outside ourselves. Gratitude recognizes value and worth. It is affirming of another’s wholesome goodness, inherent dignity, avowed merit. Gratitude begets a covenantal relationship that binds us together and propels us outside ourselves ultimately to the Source of all goodness, God. A habit of gratitude begets a habit of worship grounded in Life-giving happiness.