“And one of them, realizing he had been healed,

returned, glorifying God in a loud voice;

and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. 

He was a Samaritan.

Jesus said in reply,

‘Ten were cleansed, were they not?

Where are the other nine? 

Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?’”

I learned an important lesson in basic training at the Air Force Academy. I was in, perhaps, the most stressful and difficult challenge of my life to that point. Each day was filled with with obstacles that I could not overcome on my own. At one point, I wrote a letter home to mom which started with the words, “This is hell.” It got better by the end of the relatively short note written over a few days, but the sentiment was real. It was easy to focus on the challenge and on the intensity of my personal hardships, a focus on my own limited horizon. One day, as we were preparing to enter the mess hall and get lunch in a rushed buffet serving line, our squadron commander addressed all of us basic cadets, “Make sure you thank each of the people serving you food.” In the midst of my self absorption, it was like an ax felling a tree. In an instant, my horizon was expanded and my world included the humble food service employees who worked so diligently each day for each meal to provide for one of my most basic human needs. Gratitude swelled in my heart and mind. I realized the effort and gift that they gave to me in so much unseen effort. I thanked them sincerely. 

The enemies of gratitude are indifference, distraction, comparison, presumption, and entitlement. Indifference stems from a lack of awareness of what we have received. We simply don’t know or don’t care what others give for our benefit. We are unaware. Distraction can come in many forms: busyness, stress, grief, entertainment, obligations, etc. Something in front of us is more important than anything else. Our focus is only on one thing. Comparison is one of the most insidious of enemies. It offers relative value based on what we perceive of others. Pride and greed or jealousy and ambition seep into our response. We are never content. Presumption tends toward taking our benefits for granted. It’s not that we expect them, exactly, but that we don’t see them as anything out of the ordinary. We take for granted that it is someone’s job or just the norm. Entitlement, however, is perilous. It’s the idea that whatever we get, we deserve, or that we deserve even more than we get. It’s the idea that others have the privilege of serving us, or me. I am the standard to which everyone else must measure. In that case, there is never gratitude. 

The antidote to these enemies is humility. It is recognizing and realizing the gift given to us in each and ever moment. A story from the Air Force Academy rounds out this reflection. For years, William Crawford served as a janitor at the Academy. Quiet and shy, he did his service dutifully for the squadron to which he was assigned. Without much thought or gratitude, cadets presumed on his actions for their benefit. He cleaned toilets, garbage cans, and floors. In 1976, one of the cadets, researching the Allied advance in World War II, came upon the story of a Medal of Honor recipient named William Crawford. His bravery in the face of risk to his own life, and originally his presumed death, awarded him the highest of honors. And, yet, he was their janitor. In an instant, they saw his humble actions for them as a great gift. It was not simply because of what he did, but because of who he was. Each of our blessings, from whomever they come, are ultimately from God. For everything, we are grateful. For everyone, we give thanks. Thanks be to God!