Thanksgiving and Gratitude

On this Thanksgiving Day, I thought it would appropriate to share a few scriptures from the Book of Mormon reminding us of the importance of being thankful for all we received.  I’d also like to share a few quotes.

Please have an enjoyable Thanksgiving Day with friends and family.  Let us all give thanks to the Lord for all He gives us and the great love He shows us.

An important aspect of prayer is gratitude. Jesus declared, “And in nothing doth man offend God … save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments.”   When we contemplate the incomparable gift of prayer and the limitless blessings that flow from it, honest appreciation fills our mind and heart to overflowing with thanksgiving. Should we not, therefore, continually and profoundly express to our beloved Father, as well as we are able, our unbounded gratitude for the supernal gift of prayer and for His answers that meet our needs while motivating us to grow?

Elder Richard G. Scott (Emphasis mine)

37  And now, my beloved brethren, I desire that ye should remember these things, and that ye should work out your salvation with fear before God, and that ye should no more deny the coming of Christ;

38  That ye contend no more against the Holy Ghost, but that ye receive it, and take upon you the name of Christ; that ye humble yourselves even to the dust, and worship God, in whatsoever place ye may be in, in spirit and in truth; and that ye live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you.

Alma 34:37-38 (Emphasis mine)

Gratitude is a state of appreciation, an act of thanksgiving, which causes us to be humble because we recognize an act of kindness, service, or caring from someone else which lifts us and strengthens us.

Elder Robert D. Hales (Emphasis mine)

38  And now all these things did Alma and his fellow laborers do who were over the church, walking in all diligence, teaching the word of God in all things, suffering all manner of afflictions, being persecuted by all those who did not belong to the church of God.

39  And they did admonish their brethren; and they were also admonished, every one by the word of God, according to his sins, or to the sins which he had committed, being commanded of God to pray without ceasing, and to give thanks in all things.

Mosiah 26:38-39 (Emphasis mine)

Gratitude is a Spirit-filled principle. It opens our minds to a universe permeated with the richness of a living God. Through it, we become spiritually aware of the wonder of the smallest things, which gladden our hearts with their messages of God’s love. This grateful awareness heightens our sensitivity to divine direction. When we communicate gratitude, we can be filled with the Spirit and connected to those around us and the Lord. Gratitude inspires happiness and carries divine influence. “Live in thanksgiving daily,” said Amulek, “for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you.”

Sister Bonnie D. Parkin (Emphasis mine)

22  And now my beloved brethren, I have said these things unto you that I might awaken you to a sense of your duty to God, that ye may walk blameless before him, that ye may walk after the holy order of God, after which ye have been received.

23  And now I would that ye should be humble, and be submissive and gentle; easy to be entreated; full of patience and long-suffering; being temperate in all things; being diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all times; asking for whatsoever things ye stand in need, both spiritual and temporal; always returning thanks unto God for whatsoever things ye do receive.

Alma 7:22-23 (Emphasis mine)

Let me recommend that periodically you and I offer a prayer in which we only give thanks and express gratitude. Ask for nothing; simply let our souls rejoice and strive to communicate appreciation with all the energy of our hearts.

Elder David A. Bednar (Emphasis mine)

This great principle of gratitude, made a daily part of our lives and our prayers, can lift and bless us as individuals, as members of the Church, and as parents and families.

Elder Lloyd P. George (Emphasis mine)

37  Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day.

 Alma 37:37 (Alma(2) to his son Helaman) (Emphasis mine)

True gratitude is the ability to humbly see, feel, and even receive love. Gratitude is a form of returning love to God. Recognize His hand, tell Him so, express your love to Him.

Elder Gene R. Cook (Emphasis mine)

Alma 24:7-14

7  Now, these are the words which he said unto the people concerning the matter: I thank my God, my beloved people, that our great God has in goodness sent these our brethren, the Nephites, unto us to preach unto us, and to convince us of the traditions of our wicked fathers.

8  And behold, I thank my great God that he has given us a portion of his Spirit to soften our hearts, that we have opened a correspondence with these brethren, the Nephites.

9  And behold, I also thank my God, that by opening this correspondence we have been convinced of our sins, and of the many murders which we have committed.

10  And I also thank my God, yea, my great God, that he hath granted unto us that we might repent of these things, and also that he hath forgiven us of those our many sins and murders which we have committed, and taken away the guilt from our hearts, through the merits of his Son.

Alma 24:7-10 (Emphasis mine)

King Anti-Nephi-Lehi begins speaking to his people.

He begins by expressing his thanks to “my great God” (verse 8) for all he has done for them.  He thanks God for softening their hearts, for convincing them of their many sin, for allowing them to repent of their sins, for forgiving them of their many sins, and for taking away the guild in their hearts.  

He acknowledges that all this happens through “the merits of his Son.” (verse 10)

9  To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him;

Daniel 9:9 (Emphasis mine)

11  And now behold, my brethren, since it has been all that we could do, (as we were the most lost of all mankind) to repent of all our sins and the many murders which we have committed, and to get God to take them away from our hearts, for it was all we could do to repent sufficiently before God that he would take away our stain—

12  Now, my best beloved brethren, since God hath taken away our stains, and our swords have become bright, then let us stain our swords no more with the blood of our brethren.

13  Behold, I say unto you, Nay, let us retain our swords that they be not stained with the blood of our brethren; for perhaps, if we should stain our swords again they can no more be washed bright through the blood of the Son of our great God, which shall be shed for the atonement of our sins.

14  And the great God has had mercy on us, and made these things known unto us that we might not perish; yea, and he has made these things known unto us beforehand, because he loveth our souls as well as he loveth our children; therefore, in his mercy he doth visit us by his angels, that the plan of salvation might be made known unto us as well as unto future generations.

Alma 24:11-14 (Emphasis mine)

The king reminded them that they had to repent for the “man murders which we have committed.”  (verses 9 – 11)  It appears they had been a violent people and their murders were more than deaths in war.  Duane Boyce writes:

“Eventually, many of the Lamanites became converted to the Lord and repented … Exactly what did they think they had done wrong … the “murders” and even “the many murders” they had committed against the Nephites. This does not seem to be a metaphorical usage of the term. Again, the record tells us more than once that the Lamanites delighted in shedding Nephite blood. Think, for example, of Ammon’s encounter with Lamoni’s father, the king over all the Lamanite land. Seeing his son with ‘this Nephite, who is one of the sons of a liar,’ he ‘commanded [his son, Lamoni] that he should slay Ammon with the sword, ‘and then, when Lamoni refused, attempted the slaying himself (Alma 20:10–20). That life was extremely cheap among the Lamanites (and not just for Nephites) is further evidenced by Lamoni’s own history of punishing with death any of his servants who allowed his flocks to be scattered (Alma 17:28–29).  

“So reference to the term murder in Anti-Nephi-Lehi’s speech is not surprising …  In their repentance, then, the Ammonites were not repenting of acts of killing that had occurred in conventional war … the Ammonites’ repentance was for acts that had been motivated by hatred and by a desire for Nephite blood, and that they explicitly describe as ‘murder.’  “ [i] (Emphasis mine)

Because they had been such a bloodthirsty people, there was fear that, if they fight (even to defend themselves), they might return to their old ways.  The king told the people to stain their swords with blood no longer.

When we think of swords, we think of objects made of metal.  How could their swords be stained?  It wouldn’t be too hard to stain if they were made of wood.

“… metals were not generally thought of as becoming stained. Staining was a term that generally applied to wood, cloth, or other substances subject to discolora­tion. Reference to staining swords with blood is not found in the Bible … if the Nephite sword were the Mesoamerican macuahuitl with a wooden shaft, blood would naturally stain and discolor the wood when an enemy was wounded. Furthermore, if a metal weapon becomes bloody, the blade can be easily wiped clean. Removing a bloodstain from wood is virtually impossible since the blood soaks into the fibers of the wood.” [ii]

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[i] Were the Ammonites Pacifists? Duane Boyce, Maxwell Institute, accessed September 25, 2011.

[ii] Swords in the Book of Mormon, William J. Hamblin, and A. Brent Merrill, Maxwell Institute, accessed September 25, 2011.