Gratitude

At stake conference we had a couple we know speak on gratitude, and I wanted to say an extra big AMEN!  I seem to discover over and over how important gratitude is to joy, and peace.  This morning as I knelt to pray I was thinking of a comment someone made about how when they were in pain they had been given the counsel to be grateful even if the pain was not taken away.  After a blessing they said a long prayer of gratitude and had the pain disappear.  She testified that gratitude is healing.

Pain can be really hard to ignore, and being grateful doesn't always, or maybe even often make it go away, though it can still be healing.  I am writing this on Easter morning.  There is so much to be grateful for, and yet I mainly feel tired, and my head hurts, and I feel a bit sorry for myself.  Why can't I just feel well?  And be energetic?  As I write though, we have a depiction of the Atonement of Jesus Christ running in the background, and His pain was much greater than mine, and He not only wished it would go away, but He could have made it go away -- except He knew we needed Him to go through that pain.

The atonement Christ made assures me that He understands my pain.  I am grateful for His patience, and the love He gives even when I am struggling to get past my pain enough to feel my gratitude.  His love is healing for me even if my pain doesn't go away.  There is nothing hard that Christ's love, and gratitude for Him can't make better.