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Thanksgiving and Health: an everyday relationship

November 23, 2015 By christianscienceminnesota Leave a Comment

@Glowimages: Pumpkins
©Glowimages

Maybe we’re getting it wrong.

I overheard someone say one Thanksgiving Day, “You know, there should be 364 days a year of thanks-giving and one day for griping.”

Now there’s an idea.

With each passing year, it seems like the Thanksgiving holiday faces stronger and ever earlier competition from the Christmas consumerism so aggressively urged upon us.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the true meaning of Christmas.  But when holiday shopping ads start the week before Halloween, the gratitude that should accompany the approach of Thanksgiving tends to get drowned out.

© Glow Images
© Glowimages

Thanksgiving Day is too special to let that happen.  And giving thanks needn’t be relegated to a single day, or even to a season.  It’s something we can do every day of the year.  In addition to having us identify the good in our lives, which can help ward off the depression that we hear is more prevalent at this time of year, gratitude has been shown to be beneficial in other ways.

In fact, the health-giving effect of acknowledging blessings has been so widely studied and proven, it can literally be said that gratitude is good medicine.

A WebMD article by Elizabeth Heubeck called, “Boost Your Health With a Dose of Gratitude”, begins: “What would happen if we extended the tradition of giving thanks, typically celebrated just once a year during the holiday season, throughout the entire year?”

She quotes from a WebMD interview with Dr. Robert Emmons, Ph.D., professor at the University of California, Davis, considered a leading expert on gratitude. He says that reduction of stress and enhancement of our immune system are two health-giving benefits of a grateful state of mind.

But what if it seems like we have nothing left to be grateful for? Like refugees from war torn regions who have lost “everything” or when events in our lives make us feel devastated.

Could it be that it’s especially in the face of dire circumstances that gratitude can lift us up and help heal broken hearts and even broken bodies?

That is what I have been finding as a Christian Science Practitioner. I pray daily for healing in my life and others’ and I’ve found that being grateful before I see improvement – when it seems there’s nothing yet to be grateful for – can work wonders. I learned this from the Bible. It’s a method Jesus used more than once.

Perhaps the most dramatic example was when Jesus raised his friend Lazarus from the dead. After Lazarus died, he was placed in a cave and by the time Jesus arrived, he had already been mourned for four days. Despite that vivid evidence of a hopeless situation, he stood in front of the cave-tomb and practiced thankfulness. Jesus prayed to God out loud: “Father, thank you for hearing me.” Then he called to his friend. And Lazarus walked out of his own tomb.

True, we are not often called upon to raise the dead. But could that example apply in our daily lives?

I’ve found it can. I’ve noticed that the more consistently I give daily thanks – without making it just a ritual, so my heart’s still in it – the more natural it is to do so in a difficult situation.

Recently I pulled a leg muscle and was in a lot of pain. In seeking healing that night, I lingered on deep gratitude for God’s goodness and for the blessings in my life which I attribute to God. I continued being grateful, even when I woke up in the middle of the night still in pain. By morning my leg was much better. By the next day it was completely normal.

Year-round thanks-giving? It’s definitely a healthy and satisfying to go!

How Christmas relates to healing

December 17, 2014 By christianscienceminnesota Leave a Comment

@Glowimages MCG02393.
© GLOW IMAGES

I grew up not knowing the real origin of Christmas.  Our family still celebrated Christmas (and Hanukkah) with presents and decorations, food and fun.  But I wasn’t familiar with the story of Jesus’ birth, which as the saying goes is “the reason for the season.”

Fast forward to early adulthood, where I’d begun to read the Bible and practice spiritual healing through Christian Science.  I experienced quick healing of a wound – in a way that would be considered physically impossible.

One evening, I was trimming my mustache and slipped.  The scissor blade went deep into my upper lip.  At that moment, along with pain and surprise, I had another response that came from my spiritual study.

I recalled an account I’d read that day about a woman working in a restaurant.  While using an electric appliance with one hand, she reached out with the other to turn off a dripping faucet – causing a huge electric shock to grip her.Continue Reading

The health benefits of gratitude (beyond Thanksgiving)

December 4, 2012 By christianscienceminnesota Leave a Comment

© GLOW IMAGESThanksgiving is over.  Now what?  Where does all that gratefulness go?  Do we just move on and dive right into Christmas shopping?

I once overheard this comment on a bus in New York City on Thanksgiving Day:  “There should be 364 days a year of thanks-giving and one day for griping.”  What a wonderful idea!

With each passing year, it seems that Thanksgiving, the holiday, faces stronger and ever earlier competition from Christmas and the consumerism that is so aggressively urged on us.  Don’t get me wrong, I love the true meaning of Christmas.  But when two of my local radio stations start playing only Christmas music starting November 1st!, gratitude tends to get drown out.

Giving thanks needn’t be relegated to just a day or even a season.  We can do it every day.  In addition to having us identify the good in our lives, which can help ward off the depression that we hear is more prevalent at this time of year; gratitude is healthy in other ways.

In fact the health-giving effect of acknowledging our blessings and has been so widely studied and proven, it can literally be said that gratitude is good medicine.

Please click here to read the rest of this post in its original context…

Also featured in the West Central Tribune

About Joel

Joel Magnes Hi, I’m Joel Magnes, writing about the connection between our thinking and our health -- focusing on how spirituality and prayer can have a positive impact on our well-being.   I'm a practitioner of Christian Science, with over 25 years of expertise and experience in prayer-based healing.  And I serve as the Christian Science Committee on Publication for Minnesota; the church's media and legislative liaison. Contact Joel HERE.

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