EUCHARISTEO

I belong to readers group. We meet once a month, September through May, and we usually read books that fall into the general category of secular literary novels. But for this month, we decided on a book that is a little different from our usual fare. We’re reading Ann Voskamp’s memoir, ONE THOUSAND GIFTS. I’m a lover of novels, so I wasn’t exactly thrilled to start this book, but, oh my goodness, this book has had a very pronounced effect on my life.

The reason? ONE THOUSAND GIFTS is  all about EUCHARISTEO.

A month ago I didn’t even know what EUCHARISTEO meant. Now I’m trying to live my life according to it’s principals, and the best way for me to explain that is to tell you a bit about the history of the word. First, it’s a Greek word. Second, its root word is charis, which means grace. Grace means undeserved favor. When I consider all the blessings in my life, when I think about the faith that holds me up during tough times, when I consider how often I’m unworthy of my blessings, then I know that I’m a recipient of charis – grace.

Another word derived from charis is chara, and chara means joy.  Wow! all that wrapped up in EUCHARISTEO. And by the way, I guess I should include the definition of EUCHARISTEO. Thanksgiving. Giving thanks. Finding joy by giving thanks. Gratitude. Being content with life, what we have, what we’ve been given.

In her book, Ann Voskamp says that she sees the triplet of those three words – grace, thanksgiving (EUCHARISTEO), and joy – as a constellation of stars – the “way up into the fullest life.”

I’m trying to shed my ingratitude and live within gratitude for all the small and large blessings in my life and even beyond that to live in gratitude for the tough times, the sad times, the hurting times, the disastrous times.

Meanwhile, I’m following Ann’s example by making a list of the small blessings in my life.

Join me! Let’s list our small blessings. I’ll start with the first comment. I hope you’ll add yours.

Blessings!

Sue