Ashley Whitaker

“In the past I always thought of gratitude as a spontaneous response to the awareness of gifts received, but now I realize that gratitude can also be lived as a discipline. The discipline of gratitude is the explicit effort to acknowledge that all I am and have is given to me as a gift of love, a gift to be celebrated with joy.”
― Henri J.M. Nouwen, The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming

“If we believe that God knits us together in our mother's womb, do we therefore beleive that God knits crazy into our being? If God is in all places and is present at all times, is God also in mental illness? If we are made in God's image, then is God crazy too?”
― Sarah Griffith Lund, Blessed Are the Crazy: Breaking the Silence about Mental Illness, Family and Church

“Gratitude as a discipline involves a conscious choice. I can choose to be grateful even when my emotions and feelings are still steeped in hurt and resentment. It is amazing how many occasions present themselves in which I can choose gratitude instead of a complaint. I can choose to be grateful when I am criticized, even when my heart still responds in bitterness. I can choose to speak about goodness and beauty, even when my inner eye still looks for someone to accuse or something to call ugly. I can choose to listen to the voices that forgive and to look at the faces that smile, even while I still hear words of revenge and see grimaces of hatred.”
― Henri J.M. Nouwen, The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming