Thankfulness

"As you receive everything, call upon God for everything. What you have is from God. Always acknowledge that you are his debtor." -- St. Ambrose, On Theodosius 22

"I realized this when I was younger. When I was on Mt. Sinai, I lived in a place that had no water. I had to walk for two hours to get to a rock where water was leaking from its side. I placed the jug underneath and waited about an hour until it was filled up. The limited amount of water created in my soul various feelings: Every day I was in agony: "I wonder, will the water be dripping from the rock?" I prayed to God to continue to make it drip. As I was walking towards the rock, I was anxious to see whether I would find some water and I prayed. When I could detect from far away the water glittering as the sunbeams were falling on the rock, I glorified God. On my way back, I constantly thanked Him and glorified Him for the water He gave me. So, the small amount of water impelled me first, to constantly pray to God to make the rock drip and secondly, to thank and glorify Him, as He is the giver of all good things. When I left Sinai, I went to the Skete of Iveron, where there was no shortage of water. We had plenty of water, which was sometimes wasted, as it was left running for no reason. At some point, I felt that I had developed a different attitude inside my soul. I realized that during my stay at the Skete, I hadn't said, not even once, "Glory to God." While the small amount of water became a reason for me to pray and glorify God, its abundance made me forget that water is indeed a gift form God and I should be grateful to Him. The same thing applies to material goods." -- Selected from: Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain