day no. 15,890: thanks-having

"I do not, in my private capacity, believe that a baby gets his best physical food by sucking his thumb; nor that a man gets his best moral food by sucking his soul, and denying its dependence on God or other good things. I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.” — G.K. Chesterton, A Short History of England

Experiential knowledge is not ultimate. A man is not an expert on himself for the same reason, his only experience is in being a man. No one and nothing is immediate. No one has access to God on his own without mediation. No one has access to his neighbor on his own. No one even has access to himself without God's help. Nothing is immediately known.

Knowledge itself is a gift from God which must be received. Nothing is apprehended without help. Everything that can be known comes from without and must come through something else in order to get into us.

1 Corinthians 4:7
For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?

Chesterton concludes that gratitude is grandiose -- thanksgiving in its highest form. We give thanks because we've been given much so that our thanksgiving is for our thanks-having.

"Gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder."

What a glorious way of phrasing it. God's grace is a wonder. It comes from without and comforts within. It rushes in and flushes out. It fills up and spills over. It nourishes the soul and flourishes the man.