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A reflection and prayer to start the day with the Rev'd Dr Craig Gardiner, a tutor at South Wales Baptist College.

Good morning.

Do you say ‘thank you’ to the driver of the bus, or to the shop assistant serving at the till? This was the heart of a conversation I overheard quite recently while I was waiting in a queue. And despite being 2 metres apart and wearing masks, some others who were waiting joined in the conversation too.

Some thought there was no need to say anything, because people were only doing what was expected in their job. Others said something like ‘it does no harm to be polite’. Someone else put it more positively: ‘I just try to spread a little joy.’

As it turns out, saying ‘thank you’ does actually brings some tangible benefits. Of course, it can make those working feel appreciated, but it also helps those who are expressing their thanks – and that’s because learning to be grateful for the incidental good things that may come our way can fundamentally change our outlook on life. Indeed, some psychological research suggests that consciously attending to our thankfulness can help liberate us from fear, anxiety and other toxic emotions. Maybe that’s why, in the bible, St Paul repeatedly encouraged the persecuted church to give thanks in every situation; why he himself tried to rejoice amidst even the most difficult of circumstances.

So, whatever this new day may bring, if we want to know more joy in it, perhaps we should try a little thankfulness. As the monk Brother David Steindl-Rast has said, ‘it is not joy that makes us grateful, it is gratitude that makes us joyful.’

God of life
and bringer of joy,
help us to count the blessings of this new day
and to bring to mind the good things in our midst
Help us to begin and end
each encounter with gratitude
and every conversation with thanks
so we may we inhabit joy
and share it wildly and widely in your world
Amen