My thoughts aren't that deep. The title was misleading. I apologize.
My mission president taught us about faith. He said that sometimes we pray to have more faith, but that wasn't right. We need to have faith in something. True faith is based in Jesus Christ. We should, therefore, pray to develop more faith in Jesus Christ. I have found that focusing my faith in Jesus Christ has been very beneficial to me.
I believe the same is true for hope. Sometimes hope seems to be the same thing as wishful thinking or a positive attitude. True hope, however, is based in Christ, and especially in the power of His Atonement and Resurrection. That is the hope that becomes an anchor to my soul. (Ether 12:4)
This last month, as Thanksgiving approached, I began to think about what it means to be thankful. What is gratitude? I read lists posted by my friends of things, events, and people that they are thankful for. As I do regularly, I also made a list of things I am grateful for. But an idea was developing. I don't think it's enough to be grateful for things...I should be grateful to Someone.
President Monson taught, "A grateful heart, then, comes through expressing gratitude to our Heavenly Father for His blessings and to those around us for all that they bring into our lives. This requires conscious effort--at least until we have truly learned and cultivated an attitude of gratitude. Often we feel grateful and intend to express our thanks but forget to do so or just don't get around to it. Someone has said that 'feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.'"
I think we are inundated with evidence that people who live a grateful life live a more fulfilling life, a happier life. The question I've been asking myself isn't, "For what am I grateful?" but rather, "To Whom am I grateful?" As I approached Thanksgiving, my heart filled with gratitude to my Heavenly Father for the wonderful life He has given me.
I am grateful for the beauty of this world. I am more grateful to Heavenly Father, who created a world filled with beauty, majesty, and helps me to reflect on His glory.
I am grateful for the blessings of my family life. I am more grateful to God, who gave me the gift of a good husband. (When I first was falling in love with Chris, I felt that more than anything, he was a gift to me.) I am grateful to God, who has revealed the way I can be sealed to my family for eternity. My relations mean everything to me here and I am grateful to know that they can be eternal.
I am grateful for my content life. I am filled with hope for our future. I am grateful to a merciful Father in Heaven who has given me peace in this life.
One of my favorite passages of scripture is found in Doctrine and Covenants 59:
And inasmuch as ye do these things with thanksgiving, with cheerful hearts and countenances, not with much laughter, for this is sin, but with a glad heart and a cheerful countenance---
Verily I say, that inasmuch as ye do this, the fulness of the earth is yours, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and that which climbeth upon the trees and walketh upon the earth;
Yea, and the herb, and the good things which come of the earth, whether for food or for raiment, or for houses, or for barns, or for orchards, or for gardens, or for vineyards;
Yea, all things which come of the earth, in the season thereof, are made for the benefit and the use of man, both to please the eye and to gladden the heart;
Yea, for food and for raiment, for taste and for smell, to strengthen the body and to enliven the soul.
And it pleaseth God that he hath given all these things unto man; for unto this end were they made to be used, with judgment, not to excess, neither by extortion.
And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments.
There is so much in this passage that I love. The list of the many things given to us from God--the earth that is here for our use--has influenced the way I approach my life and the attitudes I have about the world around me. The part that has to do with my deep thoughts for today is that "in nothing doth man offend God...save those who confess not his hand in all things."
It's an important reminder to me to be grateful to God, recognize His hand in all things, and express my gratitude to Him through prayer and through the way I live my life and raise my children.