THIS summer two of my grandchildren have birthdays and being young they’ll have lots of presents. Now whatever our age, it’s our looking forward to the next present that perhaps keeps us going through life. The trouble is, when we’re young, we get lots of presents, but as we get older they seem to fall off in number. But is that really true? Surely, the presents keep coming thick and fast, if we stop to notice them. Think of the sunshine, a starry sky, a cup of coffee, a day out at the seaside, a get together with family or friends. There are so many presents to be opened each day.

Every week we get advice on how to stay healthy and live a long life. Usually it’s about eating the right food and exercising more. But in a book called ‘How the New Science of Gratitude can make you happier’, a Professor discovered that people who count their blessings are more optimistic about the future than people who don’t. And he concluded that gratitude blocks toxic emotions and can help with anxiety and that those who practise gratitude have a greater sense of well-being. The practice of gratitude changes the emotional tone of our lives for the better while a sense of entitlement does the opposite.

But it’s amazing to hear gratitude described as a ‘new science’ as if we’re the first human beings to discover that being grateful is good for you. Running right through the Bible gratitude is an attitude of life, expressed in thanksgiving for all that God has gifted us with in creation and salvation.

During the recent warm weather I went on the train to Teignmouth. It was a lovely day but I forgot my sunglasses and the sun on the sea was so glaringly bright. Hopefully, we’ll need our sunglasses a lot this summer but perhaps there is another set of glasses we need to put on each day; a pair of gratitude glasses, to help us look at the life God has given us with a gratitude focus.

The Christian writer G K Chesterton summed up how our daily practice of gratitude can overflow into the lives of those we encounter each day. ‘Nothing taken for granted; everything received with gratitude; and everything passed on with grace.‘

Rev Stephen Bowen, Wellington