The end of an election season does not return a fractured society to civility. There does not exist an on and off switch to suddenly pivot us in the right direction after we’ve come this far. The more something is destroyed the longer it takes to rebuild. And rebuilding is the work of our time. This is the work of living gratefully.
Well before this election season began, we lost sight of what is most sacred for our survival: our shared humanity. We seem to have forgotten our interdependence and, as a result, have divided ourselves up by teams, where there are winners and losers. What is happening in communities across the globe is contrary to gratefulness.
The practice of grateful living teaches us that in order to reach our fullest capabilities as humans, we need to prepare banquet tables large enough to include those with divergent perspectives and lived experiences so that we might better understand. Instead, we find ourselves huddled around bistro tables where we can only hear those closest to us — those who think and live like us, those who value what we value. How are we to repair our communities and build a world worthy of our descendants if we don’t seek understanding?
Fear is our greatest barrier to understanding because it separates us. It is a tool for distraction. We can no longer see clearly when we are terrified. We only see two paths: fight or flee. This is where gratitude goes to die because we can no longer perceive the abundant gifts life has to offer. Rather than being a people of possibility — a hopeful people — we become narrow, stingy, and impotent with scarcity guiding our hearts.
The pervasiveness of fear is not new to humanity or these times. Fear and tribalism have always been present in the human story, but gratefulness is resistance to fear. It moves us forward and helps us pursue more compassionate and inclusive communities of belonging, where every human can arrive welcomed and worthy rather than discarded.
Supporting your courage to build communities of belonging, nourishing your compassionate spirit as you work to repair and heal, helping you deepen your perspective through greater understanding, and giving you the tools to come alive to the joys and sorrows of life — these are Grateful Living’s ongoing commitments to you and this community. The work ahead for all of us will not be easy, but it begins by opening our hearts rather than sealing them off out of fear and disappointment — this is our grateful resistance in a time of othering.
To empower you to be a repairer in your corner of the world, we deliberately created programming this year to prepare you for this work. Below you will find resources to begin discerning how your light will swallow the shadows.
On behalf of all of us who join you in the sacred work of gratefulness, may the gifts in your life remind you of all we are invited to preserve for those who will inherit what we have done and what we have left undone…
Resources:
- Radical Belonging in an Age of Othering: This essay invites us to consider whether we are sick from loneliness or from not belonging — to each other and ourselves — and how gratefulness offers a remedy.
- Love Our Enemies? It May Be Our Only Way Out: In this essay, Br. David Steindl-Rast explores ways that we can show compassion and understanding towards our enemies.
- Build a Life of Belonging 5-Day Pathway: As our world becomes increasingly divisive, developing a sense of belonging is the way forward. This self-guided journey will empower you with guidance and daily practices to create belonging.
- Grateful Hope Course: Grateful Hope is a powerful tool for this moment. Our newest course provides daily practices, meaningful guest conversations, and inspiring resources to transform your perspective and deepen your sense of hope.
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