Gratitude as a path to God

When I worked at Columbia University I worked with students who in addition to being bright and dedicated scholars, were often in the middle of trying to find faith—not of their parents or culture—but faith for themselves.

One of the ways I invited people on the journey to God, was to use words of scripture; and to use words of people who had walked the same sidewalks they were walking; those who opened the same literal doors they were opening. I wanted Lauryn Hill, Thomas Merton, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Ruth Bader Ginsberg or at least some of their experiences of life as students, to help guide the lives of other young people. Perhaps one of the one well known words were of Lou Gehrig who proclaimed, even in the face of a grim medical diagnosis that he was the “luckiest man on the face of the earth.”

Surely gratitude is a path to the Grace and Peace of God.