August 15, 2007 | David F. Coppedge

Gratitude Protects Against Health Loss

A study in the “new science of gratitude” showed that thankfulness is good therapy.  Researchers at UC Davis and Mississippi University for Women tracked 12 female patients who kept journals of their hospital stays while receiving organ transplants.  A control group just reported “medication side-effects, how they felt about life overall, how connected they were to others and how they felt about the upcoming day.”  Another group answered the same questions but was asked to add five things they were thankful for, and why.  Guess which group fared better.
    “After 21 days, mental health and general wellbeing scores had risen for patients in the gratitude group but declined for those in the control group,” the article continued.  “Patients in the control group also reported a loss of vitality, while the grateful patients experienced no change.”

Gratitude is a healthful attitude.  It’s a Biblical attitude.  The Bible is filled with admonitions to be thankful (e.g., I Thessalonians 5, Philippians 4, Colossians 3).  Even in a hospital, there are many things to be thankful for.  The patients in this study should have been grateful that donors made their organs available for transplanting, and that medicine has advanced far enough to make transplanting a life-saving option, and that the body is filled with wondrous repair mechanisms (see next entry).  It should be easy to list dozens of blessings.  How many things can you count right now?  Don’t do it just for preventive medicine; really be thankful.  If you do it just for the health benefits, you’re not being grateful; you’re being selfish.
    Even with our modern affluence, gratitude is in short supply these days.  How many of your coworkers ever express true appreciation for the blessings they enjoy?  More often you are likely to hear the latest gripe about corporate politics, working conditions, the traffic on the commute, low wages, how hard I worked without being noticed, the slop the cafeteria is serving, or whatever.  A day living in North Korea might cure a lot of that.  Even the cheerful gossip often suggests cynicism – something stupid the boss did, an egregious mistake someone made, or the like – it’s the laughter of fools (Ecclesiastes 7:6), not the positive, uplifting joy of thankfulness.  People would look at you funny if you said, “Wow, what a beautiful day!  Is this a great country, or what?  I’m so glad to feel terrific and have this awesome job.  I can hardly wait to get to work!”  But then, guess who is likely to be in better health.
    Lack of gratitude rides on a current of pride and selfishness.  It conveys the attitude “I deserve better than this” or “the world owes me something.”  No you don’t, and no, the world doesn’t.  We’re all sinners and deserve judgment, remember?  We should be thankful for each moment of mercy.  The beginning of your list might be, “I’m very thankful for another day in which I did not get what I deserve.”
    Thanklessness and its root of pride and selfishness also underlies much of the fixation on biological evolution.    It makes God angry.  Paul wrote in Romans 1 that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because the truth about God is self-evident within them and has been revealed to them through what has been made (created).  In spite of the evidence, they exchanged the truth of God for a lie.  And here’s the tie-in: what is producing the stream of atheistic rage against creationism (08/08/2007) spewed by the sourpuss spokespeople of the Darwin Party?  “because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful
    Some people need a heart transplant.  Recommended surgeon: the Great Physician.  Offices conveniently located throughout time and space.  Hours: 24 x 7.

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