The importance of gratitude
The theme of this morning’s Senior House assembly was the importance of gratitude. I explained to the boys that my trip to India over Easter had caused me to wonder at the subcontinent’s extremes. It would be impossible to visit and remain passive to the sights, smells, sounds, cultures, traditions and religions that characterise modern India. In the far north as well as parts of Jammu and Kashmir, it is not uncommon for the mercury to drop below zero during winter, whilst towns and cities in the far south endure a tropical climate throughout the year. Super luxurious accommodation and be found in close proximity to slum dwellings, owners of the world’s fanciest cars sharing the same roads with a simple farmer driving his bullock cart or a rickshaw-wallah touting for trade in his souped-up scooter. Food in India can be both delectable and (for the uninitiated) downright dangerous. Even ‘time’ and distance seems to be calibrated differently in that being told to ‘wait five minutes’ or that a venue is ‘just down the road’ could mean in reality hanging around for an hour or setting off on a journey which would have tested the wit of Phileas Fogg. If patience is a virtue then one earns its crown in navigating day-to-day life in India. I was pleased that many of our boys had visited the country and I encouraged all to do so at least once.
As I sat taking tea on the lawns of the CCI (Cricket Cub of India) in South Bombay, I was overcome with a sense of gratitude for all the good things and blessings that God has bestowed upon me. This was the point I wanted to get across to the boys this morning: it was my good fortune that I was born in a country which is hugely affluent compared to large parts of the world, to a family where I was nurtured in mind, body and spirit, into a society where opportunities abound and where the rule of law is practised. I did nothing of my own to justify such good fortune. Many children in countries such as India enjoy a very high standard of living, better even than those in the West, but there are also millions whose lives will be marked by actual poverty.
What does this mean for us at St Anthony’s? That it is important to remember and be grateful for all that we have received. To remember too that with privilege comes responsibility. True happiness will come from walking the path that God has laid out for each and every one of us. In the end, we will be judged not by our material wealth but by how much we have loved.
