Gratitude and the Memory of God

By Rev Dr. Michael Anderson

Some time ago, I was feeling really anxious and I just couldn't sleep. I kept ruminating, “chewing” on my anxiety, like a cow chewing grass. I was exhausted and desperate, because this was the third night in a row that I had mostly tossed and turned.

That is part of what anxiety does. It throws you into a dreadful and threatening future. It makes your body feel as if it needs to prepare for something, even when the thing you most need to do is sleep. I knew sleep would help, but I could not convince my body of that.

I finally reached out to a psychologist friend, who, knowing that I had tried many things to treat anxiety, offered me something different. He suggested that, at night, I practice gratitude. Gratitude, he said, can bring us back into the present moment. It helps us notice what was actually given to us that day: the needs that were met, the kindnesses we received, the ordinary blessings we might have missed.

It is not that gratitude magically removes anxiety. Nor am I suggesting that Christians should simply “be thankful” and then we would all worry less. Anxiety is painful, and we often need the help of others, including professionals. Gratitude is no replacement for that help.

However, gratitude can help us remember. It can remind us that fear is not the only true thing in the room. It helps us notice gifts we might otherwise

miss: a meal, a friend, a child’s laugh, a quiet morning, strength for one more day.

And for Christians, this kind of remembering runs deep in the story of God’s people.

Again and again, God’s people are told to remember. Remember the Lord who brought you out of Egypt. Remember the manna in the wilderness. Remember the covenant. Remember the God who made a way where there was no way. Israel is called to trust God in the present because God has been faithful in the past.

That kind of remembering does not deny hardship. The Psalms are full of fear, grief, complaint, and confusion. Yet even there, prayer often turns toward memory: “I will remember the works of the Lord.” The people of God learn to say, “We have been afraid before. We have been hungry before. We have been lost before. And God has met us.”

Gratitude is a refusal to let fear become the whole story.

Perhaps a simple practice for this month: at the end of each day, name three mercies. They do not have to be dramatic. In fact, it may be better if they are ordinary. Then offer them back to God in prayer. It helps us to tell ourselves, “God has been faithful. God is faithful still.”

Over time, this kind of remembering may not erase our anxiety. But it can loosen anxiety’s grip.