Gratitude: Its Healing Properties
Dr. Frank Richelieu is pastor of the Church of Religious Science of Redondo Beach, California, and a past president of Religious Science International. He received much of his religious training from Ernest Holmes, the founder of the Religious Science movement. Dr. Richelieu’s dynamic talks are heard over radio daily on the “Living Ideas” program, which has been broadcast for 25 years. He is the author of THE PROSPERITY CONNECTION, REINCARNATION: THE INHERITANCE OF A SOUL, and THE ART OF BEING YOURSELF.
Gratitude is more than an ennobling attitude. It is one of the most empowering, healing, dynamic instruments of consciousness vital to demonstrating the life experiences one desires. When you are focused on gratitude, you are filled with the awareness of the good and desirable fabric of your life. You are literally praising and blessing what you know you already have. This knowing is the fulfilling of a cosmic law: WHAT YOU ADORE BECOMES MORE.
Gratitude is like a magnet. It draws and attracts to you that which is equal to it. If, for example, you happen to be flat on your back in pain, practice gratitude in the area of health. Be grateful for the health you do have. Focus on the feeling of peace and well-being that still exists in other parts of your body. When experiencing illness of any kind, it is especially essential to let your mind dwell on health with gratitude and acceptance for the good. See that the greater part of your body is doing what you want it to. Praise and bless it. Your body is renewable and rechargeable. Your gratitude is like fertilizer to the tree of your life. It stimulates health and growth.
When you are seemingly overwhelmed by a chaotic condition or situation, that is the time to think of the peace at the heart of the infinite. That is the time to flood your mind and emotions with peace in grateful thanks for the Divine Law and Order that exists throughout the universe, making Law and Order a possibility for you, as well. As you become filled with gratitude for health and peace, the solutions and the healing fall right into place. When you do not know how you are going to meet next month’s financial obligations and you become filled with tension and the idea of lack, realize that the divine antidote is to be thankful for abundance. When in the midst of any problem or situation, say to yourself:
I am thankful for perfect health and abundant good that finds its way to me by means of the avenues in my life that I have made open and available for the divine flow. I am thankful for all the joy that arises in my consciousness. I am thankful for the abundant health that is mine now. I am grateful for the opportunity to know more and grow more in consciousness.
What you give your attention to is what you manifest in your life. The teacher Jesus knew this to such an extent that he could give thanks for that which was not visible, knowing that it would become tangible and factual by means of the Law of Cause and Effect. What we call problems are very close to us. They trap us on every level—physically, mentally, and emotionally. They are so “visible” that it is difficult for us to be objective about them. It is necessary to take our attention from them and place it on the desired result, which is already complete in Infinite Mind.
We must see beyond problems to the answered prayer. We must bring the invisible into the visible by dwelling on what we want within consciousness instead of dwelling on what appears to be. This is the way in which we turn problems into opportunities. This is the way we release the tension and congestion and move through whatever appears to be creating trouble. As we do so, we move into the realm of the solution. Many of us give thanks and are grateful for what we have, but how many of us give thanks for what we are about to receive? Try to form a practice of saying:
I am thankful for the blessings I am about to receive. I am thankful for the increased harmonious conditions in my home. I am thankful for the wonderful experiences that exacerbate my growth. I am thankful for the newness that I am about to receive. I am thankful that I have an attitude of gratitude about the living of life. My attitude of gratitude opens the portals to richer living.
By doing so, you will not be working on things and conditions, but on your own consciousness.
You will be programming it to expect the best. You cannot have an attitude of gratitude and also be bitter. You must be free of the idea that people or situations are against you. You must also be free of the belief that you have made a mess of your life and there is nothing you can do about it.
When gratitude rises within you like a fountain, it brings in its wake greater health, greater joy, greater supply, greater prosperity, and greater opportunity for living life than you have ever experienced before. If you seem overwhelmed by a situation or problem and cannot see your way clear to think and feel gratitude, do this:
Sit down and go back in consciousness to the memory of things for which you can be truly grateful. Think how God has guided and directed you through past problems. Once you have a sincere feeling of gratitude for those past blessings, realize that the same God is with you today, guiding, directing, renewing, and restoring. Then project your thoughts beyond the present situation, and be grateful for what you are about to receive.
The Psalms are songs of praise and thanksgiving and were sung during times of trouble. In the midst of dire conditions and situations, the Psalmist’s faith never wavered. He praised and blessed and was thankful, for he knew that God was ever-present, running the universe and creating ultimate good. Perhaps he did not always understand why such conditions were occurring; the human viewpoint is very limited in times of trouble, but his faith never wavered.
Gratitude is important because it is not just a cold, mental acceptance of something. It is warm like the sunshine that makes the flowers grow. It unfreezes the condition and makes it possible for the desired good to become manifest.
Rejoice in your freedom of choice. You are a law unto yourself. Say to yourself right now:
Gratitude is a healing power that enters into every part of my being, transforming, strengthening, renewing, and making it whole. Gratitude is ever flowing through me now. I am filled with a deep inner feeling of gratitude that enriches my every experience.
