Giving Thanks in All Things

A good friend of mine recently sent me this article, written by Seth Hahne, concerning gratitude in the United States. it's an excellent and thought provoking article that I highly suggest you read in full, but in summary the author's point is this: In a modern industrialized economy like that of the United States, many of the blessings we take for granted every day are available to us through the coercion or exploitation of other human beings. In brief, the costs of living in a first world nation are often born on the backs of those in developing countries. Mr. Hahne writes: 

"Even as we recognize just how good, easy, and comfortable we have it, it doesn’t take a lot of reflection to remember that much of the fruits we enjoy come at a human cost. The blessings for which we are to be thankful are, in a manner, ill-gotten gains. Materials used in our laptops and iPads are ethically dubious. The diamonds on our engagement rings are ethically dubious. Materials used in tech industries are ethically dubious. The health and welfare of those producing these materials is a cost most of us are blithely willing to pay because a) those costs are paid remotely, b) convenience is one of our foremost idols, and c) everyone else is doing it."

Another friend led me to this rather disturbing link, which, following a series of questions about one's consumption habits, estimates how many people working in slave labor conditions around the world support your lifestyle. I was distressed to find that my own lifestyle, despite living a rather spartan bachelor life (By American standards) in a developing country, requires roughly 21 slaves internationally to sustain it. It's a shameful fact of our time that, despite the best of intentions by many, it is almost impossible to live a comfortable life in an industrialized nation in a globalized economy without benefiting from the exploitation of some other human being in some other part of the world. 

The author's question is this: How can we be thankful for blessings gained by exploiting the weak?

In the Bible, we read the command in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 to "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

Sometimes I wonder how I am justified in being able to write about gratitude. Considering I'm a young, educated, American male, with a good job, good health, relatively unlimited economic and legal freedom, with a loving family, healthy social and spiritual life, etc. It's easy for me to be grateful. But how dare I write about gratitude to those who are ill, dying, poor, crippled, oppressed, old, lonely, and unhappy? Especially when some of the advantages that I've had in life came directly from the oppression of other human beings? What right do I have? I'll be honest, these and ideas like them have caused me no little distress. 

But what it comes down to is this: I don't write about gratitude because I think it's a moral imperative (although I do think that). I don't write about gratitude because I want to tell other people how to feel or how to live. I don't want to "sell" gratefulness. I write about gratitude because I sincerely believe and am committed to the fact that a grateful life is the best and healthiest way to live - for everyone.  It's been clinically shown that gratitude helps people to lead a happy, healthy life - no matter their socioeconomic position. I have been so blessed to be grateful in my abundance, how much more so the one who can be grateful in their poverty? 

There is always something to be grateful for. Those who are strong enough to find that thing, to be grateful in abject misery, are powerful, graceful, admirable people. 

How can we be grateful in a cancer ward? How can we be grateful in divorce court? At a funeral? In the gutter? How can we be grateful at a banquette table that's been paid for by the blood and sweat of the weak and oppressed?

Gratitude is a skill. We increase our proficiency in that skill by daily practice. A soldier or policeman trains his body every day, for the single moment in his career when that training will count. A swimmer trains his body every day, so that he will perform well on race day. In the same way, we need to practice gratitude in our daily abundance so that we can be grateful even when we have nothing. One of my favorite anonymous quotes goes like this:

"Mind your thoughts, they become your words.

Mind your words, they become your actions.

Mind your actions, they become your habits.

Mind your habits, they become your character.

Mind your character, it determines your destiny." 

By slowly training our minds to be in a constant state of gratitude, by arresting every thought and making it submit, by actively taking control of what and how we think, we train ourselves to become grateful people. Becoming a grateful person may require a 180 degree turn, taken one degree at a time. We may have to actively search for things in our lives to be grateful for, but they are there. It may be no more than a functioning body, a few moments with a friend, good weather, the absence of some other trial or pain, a clean mind. I'm grateful for people who are happy to see me, for objects that have a satisfying weight, for a good high five or handshake. The little things may be little, but some people don't have even these things, and still manage to be grateful - because they have practiced and mastered the art of gratitude. 

A few weeks ago I was ill with a sore throat. It was hard to concentrate on being grateful when I had this minor irritating pain to deal with. But whenever I was feeling irritated or aggravated by my illness, I tried to actively stop my thought process, and replace the thought with a grateful one. One thing that I try to remember when I'm feeling sick is that without minor illnesses, pains, and injuries, we would be unable to recognize how wonderful it is when our bodies are healthy and functioning. How sweet it is to wake up after a long illness, and feel fine and healthy again. But how can we expect ourselves to be grateful when we're sick if we didn't practice being grateful in our health? 

This leads me back to Mr. Hahne's question (which he answers himself very gracefully by the way). How can we be thankful for ill gotten gains? Well, the only real answer is that we need to actively investigate and flee from the evil of slavery in all forms, we have to decide with our wallets and with our lifestyle, whenever possible, to choose ethically produced goods and services.

However, recognizing the sad impossibility of living a life of perfectly ethical consumption, I propose a second question: Which is worse, to enjoy the fruits of exploitation with gratitude, reverence, and awareness of the sacrifice that others have made? Or to enjoy those same fruits with ignorance, greed, and ungratefulness? I propose the former. 

Does this mean we should be grateful for injustice, exploitation, and slavery? No. Absolutely not. I hate injustice. I hate having to choose the lesser of two evils, and I absolutely abhor any economic system so fundamentally based on exploitation and coercion. But when it comes down to living in the real world of corruption, crime and brutality: it is absolutely imperative that we reverently and gratefully accept our blessings, while condemning and fleeing from the sin and crime that have brought us those same blessings.

If our electronics are assembled from resources harvested by children, if our shoes are built by slave laborers, if we really can't afford or don't have access to ethically produced versions of the things we actually need, then we'd better damn well recognize the fact that someone else suffered so we could have something nice. We have a moral obligation to those people to be at least grateful for their pains, while at the same time actively working toward the emancipation, respect, and economic health of all people - insofar as it is within our power.