Count your blessings, name them one by one

A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Rev Carolyn Skinner.

Good morning.

Some of you may remember the old hymn ‘Count your blessings, name them one by one, Count your blessings, see what God has done.’ It is similar to the words in Psalm 103 which says ‘Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits.’

The old hymn seeks to do the same as the Psalm, to catalogue God’s goodness so that we don’t forget. If we are a person of prayer, it can be easy to rush in with prayers of petition and forget to stop and thank God for the way He’s been at work or answered our prayers.

Psychologists say that it takes at least three positive experiences to outweigh one negative experience. This ratio is a tipping point beyond which people are more likely to thrive.

Apparently if you write down three things each day that you’re thankful for, you’ll be 25% happier! Gratitude is consistently associated with positive mental health.

I have a thankfulness jar. It’s just a simple Kilner jar and each day I write on scraps of paper at least three things that I am thankful for that day and pop them into the jar. I love seeing it fill up, and I love going back and reading all the thanks. Even in the hardest times, I’ve found things to be thankful for.

Are there ways today that we can be intentional about gratitude? Perhaps to pause and name three things we are thankful for?

Loving God, I thank you for the way that I have experienced your goodness on a daily basis. Help me to always be a person of thankfulness.

Amen