Naming to Save Me

1. the smell of the morning when you can tell it's going to be a hot day

9. my soft, gushy pillow

20. warm sun on back, cool breeze

36. the caramel-colored foam on a latte

55. the putter of a small plane overhead

It's been a couple of months now that I have been writing down things I love. Things for which I'm thankful. Things for which I thank God. It started with a book a friend gave me called One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. Her idea is that thanksgiving is a precursor to miracles. It's the faith that brings salvation. It's the grace that gives us a full, rich life in Christ. What started as a dare to write down one thousand gifts from God became a way of changing her perspective toward God's goodness instead of at the loss and lack in our world and in our own lives.

A concept I really like in the book is about naming things. Naming was Adam's first job in Creation. To quote from her book (which is a quote from Alexander Schmemann):
“Naming reveals the very essence of a thing, manifests the meaning and value God gave it, to know it as coming from God and to know its place and function within the cosmos created by God. To name a thing, in other words, is to bless God for it and in it.”
I love this idea of the power of naming as a spiritual exercise which gives meaning to, and thanksgiving for, the things in my life. Those things are always there, but naming them and thanking God for them gives them power. It gives me power as I connect myself consciously to God and His love.

I've tried this kind of thing before- writing down things I'm thankful for- and sometimes it has been helpful and other times it failed horribly. One point Ann Voskamp makes is that the things need to be very specific and small. This seems counter-intuitive. We Christians so often thank God for things like family, salvation, creation, etc. As Ann says: "I discover that slapping a sloppy brush of thanksgiving over everything in my life leaves me deeply thankful for very few things in my life." As I started my list, I tried to focus on the things that make me happy. Those things that make me smile or sigh. And I didn't pressure myself to a schedule of a certain number a day or even a frequency. By keeping it natural and guilt-free, I'm hoping it is something I can sustain for a long time.

Is it working? Am I a changed woman who sees good in every situation? No. Not yet. But as Erasmus said, "A nail is driven out by another nail. Habit is overcome by habit." And, again quoting Ms. Voskamp: "To learn how to be grateful and happy, whether hands full or hands empty. That is a secret worth spending a life on learning.”