THE ART OF GRATITUDE | Day 5
Gratitude for Quiet Moments

“Be still, and know that I am God!” — Psalm 46:10 (NRSVUE)

French artist Claude Monet spent many years painting the water lilies in the garden he created at his home in Giverny, France. He returned to the same pond again and again, capturing the changing light, reflections, and colors on the water.

In his 1906 painting Water Lilies, there is no dramatic event taking place. No people, no grand landscape, no story unfolding. Just the quiet beauty of water, flowers, and reflected light.

Yet Monet found enough beauty in that ordinary pond to paint it hundreds of times. Perhaps there is something important for us to learn from that.

Our lives can become so busy that we begin to measure our days by how much we accomplish. There are responsibilities to meet, people to care for, places to go, and things that need our attention.

Even our prayers can become a list of things we need God to do. But the psalmist reminds us to be still and recognize God's presence.

Sometimes gratitude comes not from doing more, but from stopping long enough to appreciate what is already there.

A quiet morning. A familiar view from the window. The beauty of a changing season. A few moments when nothing is expected of us.

These, too, are gifts from God.

Where do you find the quiet moments that help you recognize God's presence?

Art & Faith Initiative | First Presbyterian Church, Beatrice, Nebraska

Artwork: Claude Monet, Water Lilies, 1906. Art Institute of Chicago.