Gratitude gives thanks for the miracle of grace, no longer taking everything for granted but fully awakening to the mystery of radical gift. Gratitude steps back from being to the wonder of being which opens to the timeless well-being of glory. To give thanks is intrinsic to the Eucharist, which communicates thanksgiving through the sacrament of Holy Communion, conveying the wonder of union. Baptism purifies the heart whilst Chrismation illumines the mind in the heart, culminating in the hallowing communion of the Eucharist. Grace is sheer gift, for which gratitude gives thanks, communicating the wondrous culture of gift.
Gift is not confused with reward or payment, which deprive gift of its power and glory. The mentality of deserving does not understand giving, extinguishing the glory of gift. Desart wisdom stays with gift, generous with free hospitality, grateful for free donation, refusing to be seduced by market forces even in a market economy. Thanksgiving is a way of life that desert communities have faithfully followed for centuries, as did the early Church, who held all things in common with gratitude and generous giving. Christian Socialism is at heart inspired by the early Christian culture of gift, despite later Fabian compromise with market economics.
Gratitude is truly radical when it is allowed to breathe and live, inspiring a communal culture of mutual gift. The mysteries of glory are all manifestations of radical grace, deeply counter-cultural in a Capitalist economy. Thanksgiving for creation lies at the heart of climate activism, inspiring green initiatives all over the world. Green New Deals presuppose radical awareness of what used to be taken for granted, secularising grace for a post-christian world. Gift inspires the gift of thanks that gives gifts to express thanks, transcending the economics of market forces. Gratitude gives thanks for grace, intuiting the glory of grace, opening to mysteries of glorification even in a largely secular world.