An Attitude of Gratitude

Sometimes I have fantasized about what it would be like to receive a million dollars. Before you jump to the conclusion that I play the lottery, let me assure you that I do not. Nor would I follow the example of a person who was tying up a line at the register in a convenience store. He justified his multiple lottery card purchases by saying he was trying to pay off the mortgage on his house. I think he would have had greater success by applying the sum of money he paid for the tickets toward his mortgage!

I suppose in these moments of fantasy, I flash back to my childhood remembering the late 1950's TV series The Millionaire. The weekly story line was about a multimillionaire, John Beresford Tipton, Jr., who found gratification by giving away one million dollars to individuals he has never met. Then the rest of the story revealed how the million dollars impacted the recipient’s lives. The result was sometimes positive I suppose, but the stories I recall most often recounted how disruptive the windfall was to the individuals.

Recently I read an account of an elderly couple, Allen and Violet Large, who live in rural Nova Scotia. They won $11 million in a Canadian lottery. Four months after their windfall they decided they had no need for the money and have given virtually all of it to churches, the Salvation Army, the Red Cross, hospitals, and charities that fight Alzheimer, cancer, and other diseases. Incidentally, if you didn’t get a check from them by now, you probably will not have any better chances of doing so than if you had bought a lottery ticket!

What ever possessed this elderly couple in their late 70’s to be so generous? Perhaps it was an attitude of gratitude. In reading portions of an interview with them, I discovered how they may have arrived at the decision they made. First, I noticed an attitude of contentment. Violet Large, 78, commented, “We have an old house, but we’re comfortable and we’re happy in it.” He husband, Allen, 75, added, “We were pretty well set, not millionaires, but comfortable.” They live in their 19th century house lacking such advantages as a microwave and voicemail. For transportation they drive a 13-year-old car and a 5-year-old truck. How does Violet assess their situation? She puts it simply, “I have no complaints.” She adds, “Why spend money when you have everything you need?”

Second, I observed how much they valued relationships with people. Violet and Allen have been married since 1974. Violet is recovering from cancer having just completed her last course of chemotherapy. A reporter observed Allen choking back tears when asked about the money. Allen responded, “That money that we won was nothing – we have each other.” In July when they were notified of the windfall, Allen had also gotten choked up saying there was only one thing he wished he could buy, “For Violet to be healthy.” They valued people over money and it showed. They made good on their initial promise to help people. They discovered, “It made us feel good,” to give money to people and community organizations.

Finally, it appears that they discovered money can also be a burden. Allen described their winnings as “a big headache,” and Violet expressed concern about the “crooked people” that began to call them trying to get their money. With the money out of the way the couple was focusing upon Violet’s recovery.

I have no information about the Large’s spiritual lives so I do not know what part that played in their decisions. I do recall, however, a biblical passage that says something about developing an attitude of gratitude that may relate to the couple’s actions. Paul wrote, “But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction” (1 Timiothy 6:6-9 NIV).

That is a good insight as we go into this Thanksgiving season. May the attitude of gratitude be formed in us as we express contentment and thanks for what we do have. How easy it is to become discontent in a marketing culture that stresses our “need” for one more thing to make us happy. The blessings God gives us are often overlooked as we fixate upon what we do not have. Our vision perhaps needs adjusted so that we may, as the hymn writer puts it, “Praise God from whom all blessings flow.” Let us let our Thanksgiving be saturated with an attitude of gratitude.