Graditude

I've been thinking about gratitude. The word itself comes from the Latin gratus, which is also one of the etymological origins of the theological term 'grace'. Gratitude seems to be primarily a description of relationality, implying a hierarchy of indebtedness - the one who is grateful looks up to the one to whom they are indebted, as it were. And yet, if we look at the etymology again, we can interpret this relationship differently: the one who is grateful is the one who is literally full-of-grace. This implies that the priority lies with the one who is grateful, insofar as they are the one who offers the gift of gratitude to the one to whom they are indebted. Such an approach to gratitude is consistent with Christian theology, which understands grace to be the free gift of God to humanity and creation. But for this free gift, Christians believe, the universe would not exist and humanity would not be vouchsafed life after death. Christianity claims that Jesus defeats death as a freely-given gift to humanity, in spite of the inevitably fallen nature of human beings.

Yesterday evening I watched the second episode of Simon Schama's 'The Story of the Jews' (BBC2 9pm). It was a fascinating analysis of the interrelationship between Judaism, Islam and Christianity, or, rather, the interrelationships between Jews, Muslims and Christians in the medieval period. It seems that Jews of this period had a lot to be grateful for - at least, according to Muslims and Christians of the period. They were tolerated and persecuted in turns; vital to the economic progress of European, North African and Arabic countries, contributors to the development of rich cultural treasures, and some of the most significant philosophical and theological intellectuals of the day, and yet at the same time they were a threat, an unknown, an other. Schama pointed out that it is rare to find examples of beautiful architecture in medieval synagogues because the congregation assumed that at some point soon they would have to pack up and flee, so there was little point investing in the building. Whilst visiting a medieval synagogue in Venice, he discussed the act of creativity as a mitzvah, an obligation or commandment. In creating beauty, he claimed, one is expressing one's gratitude to God - one is freely giving the gift of thankfulness, not only to God, but also to those around you. This seems to me to be an excellent form of gratitude - to create, rather than destroy, in order to express one's appreciation for something or someone. Perhaps this is something to try out this week - pick something you are thankful for and try to express your gratitude creatively.