June 9th 2025: Gratitude
“The struggle ends when gratitude begins.”
Neale Donald Walsch – Author
Some Historical Expressions of Gratitude
A grandmother silently gives her last piece of black bread to her grandson, kneeling to thank the soil, even though it has betrayed her this year. She whispers a prayer of gratitude—not for the bread, but for the child’s breath.
A Textile Worker in Lancashire, 1842
A girl who just got her job back after a mill shut down due to protests sits beside her mother, patching an old shawl. Her hands ache, but she hums—grateful for work, shelter, and the hope she sees in the union meetings.
A Slave’s Hidden Thanks
In the American South, enslaved people sometimes gathered in secret prayer meetings to give thanks—not for their circumstances, but for small mercies: a newborn’s survival, a meal shared, a kind word. These moments were acts of spiritual resistance and deep communal gratitude, even amid brutality.
A Refugee’s New Start
Ellis Island, 1907: a Ukrainian mother holding her child’s hand as they pass the health inspector. They don’t speak the language, they have no money, but she bows her head in thanks for a chance at something better.
“Six potatoes among the four of us. Thank the Lord there’s no more of us!”]