Glass Half Empty or Half Full?

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 (ESV)

How do you view this picture? 

Do you see it as ”half-empty”? 

Do you perhaps see the reflection and see it as “half-full”, ready to be poured out? 

There’s a powerful link between gratitude and life perspective.  I think it’s why the Apostle Paul is adamant in his letter to the church at Thessalonica to “give thanks in all circumstances”.  He was writing to a community of Christ-followers who were well acquainted with trials and suffering.  His opening in the letter says as much:  

“And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.” 

1 Thessalonians 1:6–7 (ESV)

I like how Kirk Byron Jones expresses this principle:

”Although external factors greatly influence our lives, it is our internal response to external forces that makes or breaks us.  This awesome response capability abides within each of us.  One of the implications is that we have the power to regulate our own joy, our own feeling of soul-satisfaction with life.  The choice is ours to curse the storm, to run for cover, or to sing in the rain.”  (From Rest in the Storm:  Self-Care Strategies for Clergy and Other Caregivers)

And how does one “sing in the rain”, so to speak?  I believe the most practical and visceral expression is gratitude.  But gratitude to what?  An impersonal universe?  A deified, un-actualized “self”?  No disrespect, but I believe casting your thankfulness there as some meditative practices would encourage is like tossing a penny in a wishingwell.  Nice thought, but that change fountain ain’t going to acknowledge your gift and spew quarters back at you.

No, the focus of our gratitude is a single, powerful, loving, and knowable Person.  He (Jesus - Son of God) not only is deeply acquainted with grief and suffering, but has the power to ultimately vanquish evil.  He sees the beginning from the end, and has written the final chapter.  We can trust Him with our gratitude because He has actually done the impossible, and has promised as we trust Him, we too can supernaturally survive, thrive, and triumph over our struggles.  And one of the ways we see Him empower a thriving life and mindset in us is the way He uses gratitude to transform us.

Erie Chapman writes:

“Gratitude is a beautiful form of self-care. When we live in its glow, we feel love’s light passing through us…It also helps free us from some of life’s vices. As I cultivate gratitude, anger eases away from me, frustration departs, hunger for approval eases. In gratitude, I feel blessed. In this state, I am all the more likely to want to give to others, to reach out to the poor, to help the vulnerable. For gratitude is not the same as complacency. Complacency is a form of arrogance. When I am grateful, I seek to share more with others.” (From The Caregiver Meditations: Reflections on Loving Presence)

Cultivating gratitude is a spiritual discipline.  It’s essential for all those who want to live contented, peace-filled, and joy-infused lives in Christ.  It’s also critical for those of us in caregiving roles, because it’s a discipline that can literally shape our perspective on our circumstances and empower us to fulfill our caregiving calling - a literal “dying to self, daily” as we “take up our cross” to serve the vulnerable with the kind of loving compassion that characterizes Jesus Himself. 

One simple and powerful “technique” I’ve seen for this is the maintaining of a personal “thanks journal”.  Every day, find at least 1 thing to be thankful for and write it down.  Express why you are thankful.  Do this for a few days or weeks.  Then build upon that and list 2 or more things to be thankful for.  Raise it to 5, then 10, then… you get the idea.  As you strengthen this spiritual muscle, the gratitude starts to flow, and you find yourself even thanking Him for the very difficult things you are experiencing, because now you are starting to see them from His eyes and understand their eternal worth in developing your perseverance, your character, and your ultimate trust in the Lord.

Back to the picture - is your glass “half-empty” or “half-full”.  Optimism can be deceiving, for sure, as some of us may have a tendency to sugar-coat reality and live with our head in the sand, ignoring suffering around us with disconnected complacency.  This is not gratitude, this is spiritual slothfulness and actually does more harm than good.  But living with a perpetually pessimistic perspective on the fill line of life leads us also away from compassionate engagement and causes us to retreat into anxious isolationism.  The glass does eventually evaporate, for lack of us taking hold.

This picture has a profound meaning for me.  The reflection of the upside down glass reminds me that seeing the glass as half full is an “upside down” exercise in our overly negative world, and is nearly never our default perspective (spend 2 minutes on social media and you know this is true).  Practicing gratitude to Jesus helps us right our perspective so that the reflected, opaque reality can be seen for what it is - the True eternal order of things.  Jesus is in control, and nothing falls outside His sovereign care.  There is suffering, for sure, but there’s an inexhaustible well of hope that Jesus offers to those who call upon Him, and yes, thank Him for His goodness.

“If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.” 
Meister Eckhart