Grateful, by Diana Butler Bass

Like most of us, I would guess, I need to be more grateful.  Diana Butler Bass feels the same way, and has written a thoughtful book about the practice of gratefulness.  Grateful: The Transformative Power of Giving Thanks is much better in principle than in execution.  Just read the title and you can discern the powerful message that living a more thankful life can be transformative.  Bass backs that principle up with a dash of scripture, a sprinkle of science, and a portion of good reflection.

She had a couple of ideas that stood out to me.  One is that centrality of thankfulness in one's devotional life.  One of her mentors helped her to understand that "the ancient practice [of daily devotions] did not begin with an hour-long Bible study involving a highlighter [as her evangelical friends would have her believe]--nor did it focus on getting something from God.  Almost every rite of prayer at every hour of the day in each of those books begins in a similar way, with a form of thanks."  This is something I will focus on in my own prayer life: putting thanksgiving before everything else.

This reflects the attitude of ancient Israel.  Their neighbors "gathered to give their gods gifts in order that the gods might respond in gratitude to the people's praise and send them rain, an abundant harvest, or a military victory."  By contrast, "In Israel, gratitude worked differently: God sends the gifts to the people, and the people respond in gratitude and with promises to live more deeply into love and the law."  I had never thought of this before, but it's an important distinction.

Among her good ideas and inspirational thoughts, Bass had a couple of consistent themes that bothered me.  First, even though she was, to an extent, shaped in an evangelical church, she ends up belittling that tradition, as if she had moved beyond such immature faith.  I understand that different people experience God in different ways, but I don't enjoy even subtle mocking of other traditions.

On a similar note, she let her political attitudes murk up the theme as well.  She wrote during the 2016 presidential election and in the early months of Trump's administration.  She embodies persistent Trump Derangement Syndrome.  She talks about not being able to function, how she and her friends despaired for the future of the country and humanity, and how hard it was to find something to be thankful for in light of Trump's election.  I find these attitudes ridiculous.  I can only hope that she and her ilk have come to grips with the election results and have realized that a Trump presidency is not the end of democracy, peace, and freedom.  This wasn't a major theme, but it popped up enough to be really annoying.

So take what you will, but I still attest that the best part of the book is the title.  If I'd stopped there, I would have saved some time and annoyance.


Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!