Attention as an Essential Ingredient to Gratitude
Each year, in late summer, we are told by the Rambam that the Shofar is there to wake us up. It is as if the Shofar tells us: Sleepers arise from your slumber, and those who are dozing, awake from your lethargy.
And this year, in this late fall, this Thanksgiving, after reading an essay on gratitude by David Whyte, I realize that this call to wake up and to pay attention requires a constant reminder.
David Whyte, in his masterpiece book, Consolations, writes: “Gratitude is not a passive response to something we have been given, gratitude arises from paying attention…Gratitude is not necessarily something that is shown after the event, is the deep, a priori state of attention that shows we understand and are equal to the gifted nature of life. (Consolations, p.89)
We live in a world that is constantly trying to grab our attention. And it is the area of attention where we need to focus on most this Thanksgiving.
As Jews, attention to understanding of these gifts of life and to the world are a big part of what the daily recitation of Tehilim is about. Tehilim of thanks,(Ps.100) Tehilm of recognition of the beauty of the world (Ps.104) are some of just the many Tehilim that Walter Brueggemann calls Psalms of “orientation.” These Tehilim ground us and give us that conscious attention that leads to gratitude.
Whyte continues, “Gratitude is the understanding that many millions of things come together and live together, and mesh together, and breathe together in order for us to take even one more breath of air.”
As Jews, attention to the miracle of our everyday existence is what we show when, each day, upon opening our eyes, we recite מודה אני לפניך (modeh ani). This articulation of hoda’ah, of thanks, and so many other similar sections in our tefilot, allow us to pay serious attention to the ability to live another day, attention that leads to gratitude.
Whyte concludes that gratitude “is the understanding that the underlying gift of life and incarnation as a living, participating human being is a privilege; that we are miraculously part of something, rather than nothing.”
As Jews, attention to this knowledge of our place in the bigger story is what we read about this week on Shabbat. In this parsha, Yitzhak displays this attention when he continues the work of his father by redigging the wells of Avraham in Chapter 26 of Breishit. His role in the ongoing story of Am Yisrael is then recognized by Hashem and also by Avimelekh. This attention to the bigger stories into which we are all a part, is mandatory for increased gratitude.
In our busy lives, we are constantly told to wake up, be aware and avoid distraction. And while distracted activity certainly leads to physical harm to others, lack of attention to the things that matter, harm us the most. It harms our minds, our souls and takes us away from our essential work this Thursday and every other day of the year– the work of attention, the work of gratitude, the work of Thanksgiving.
A much needed reminder !
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