By Joseph Plummer
This Sunday, UUFSMA Sunday Service Guest Speaker Lee Knox weaves personal experience, practical philosophy, and humor to present the choice of gratitude as a concept that defines a person’s life.
“It is said that it is not happy people who are grateful. It is grateful people who are happy,” explains Knox. “There is a growing body of research that suggests that people who make gratitude a daily priority have a higher quality of life, even in the midst of stress and suffering.”
Dr. Galen Guengerich, the minister of All Souls Unitarian Church in New York City, goes so far as to say that Unitarian Universalism “should be defined by gratitude.” Why gratitude? “The discipline of gratitude reminds us how utterly dependent we are on the people and world around us for everything that matters,” she says. “From this, flows an ethic of gratitude that obligates us to create a future that justifies a growing sense of gratitude from the human family.”
It is not a new concept. Two thousand years ago the Roman philosopher Cicero said, “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.” Cicero understood that to lead a good life, to embrace the four classic virtues of wisdom, justice, courage, and temperance; it all starts from a place of gratitude.
Knox is a retired writer, a UU Fellowship member, and a full-time resident of San Miguel de Allende.
Unitarian Universalism is a liberal religion. Our Fellowship welcomes people of all ages, races, religions, sexual orientation, and gender identity. You can see what we are like and enjoy previous services at https://www.youtube.com/. Enter UUFSMA in the search box. UUFSMA donates generously to support nonprofit organizations that provide health, educational, and environmental services for underserved communities in the San Miguel region. Please support this work by clicking on the website home page Donate button.
To participate in our online Sunday Service, visit www.uufsma.org and click on the Zoom Service button on the home page. If requested, enter password: 294513. Sign-in from anywhere Sunday mornings between 10:15-10:25am CST.
In addition to continuing live Zoom services, UUFSMA has returned to limited in-person Sunday services. Reservations are no longer necessary. Space permitting, guests who show their vaccination card can join the in-person service (and be approved for future attendance).
*Joseph Plummer is the UUFSMA Board Secretary
