Sunday, November 13, 2011

Spiritual Sundays

Today's topic is gratitude. The first two quotes are insightful but more on the ills of ingratitude so I added a third quote that is a bit more on the positive side and describes well the blessings of living a grateful life.

“Comparatively, we are so much quicker to return favors and to pay our debts to mortals — and we should be responsive and grateful. But what of Him who gave us mortal life itself, who will erelong give us all immortality, and who proffers to the faithful the greatest gift of all, eternal life? We are poor bookkeepers, indeed!”
- Neal A. Maxwell, General Conference, October 1988

“Our society is afflicted by a spirit of thoughtless arrogance unbecoming those who have been so magnificently blessed. How grateful we should be for the bounties we enjoy. Absence of gratitude is the mark of the narrow, uneducated mind. It bespeaks a lack of knowledge and the ignorance of self-sufficiency. It expresses itself in ugly egotism and frequently in wanton mischief. We have seen our beaches, our parks, our forests littered with ugly refuse by those who evidently have no appreciation for their beauty.”
- Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, August 1988

"Mercies and blessings come in different forms--sometimes as hard things. Yet the Lord said, 'Thou shalt thank the Lord thy God in all things' (D&C 59:7). All things means just that: good things, difficult things--not just some things. He has commanded us to be grateful because He knows being grateful will make us happy. This is another evidence of His love."
- Elaine S. Dalton, General Conference, April 2007

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