Praisegiving and Thanksgiving

How is praise different from gratitude? Thanksgiving sets off the rounds of giving and expressing thanks for what is good in our lives. But I must confess, these recitations of the “be-gratitudes,” have always made me feel a little “squirrely,” as my father-in-law would say. When my turn comes at the table, the turkey steaming expectantly, I want to bolt. I’ve never understood why. There is nothing wrong, and much right, with saying things like:

• I’m grateful for the sun and all this glorious world.

• I’m thankful for the hands that prepared this feast.

• I’m grateful for the heart that holds love.

Only when I began reading the work of the ecstatic poets such as Mirabai, Rilke, Dickinson, Whitman, did I understand why recitations of gratitude made me “squirrely.” The ecstatic poets essentially praise the world, people, objects, and whatever their conception of the divine is. Praising flows outward, and seems less self-oriented than gratitude. It’s about the world instead of me. Notice how you can drop the subject, I, below:

• Praise the sun, and all this glorious world.

• Praise the hands that prepared this feast.

• Praise the heart that holds love.

Now this type of giving thanks I love and could do all day. So this Thanksgiving, I’m going to try “Praisegiving,” aloud and in silence, and see if that is my way to resound with the day.