In non-European religious communities, the emotions of gratitude serve as the foundation of personal resilience and joy, as a soulful pathway to the truest kinds of freedom and liberation. Gratitude can be experienced by anyone, anywhere, without permission and without restraint. No external master can either release or inhibit thanksgiving. Gratitude is, perhaps, the most immediate and most primal of all spiritual affections—one that makes every human being a priest. Feeling grateful empowers the soul.
From “Grateful” by Diana Butler Bass – HarperOne