One of my blogging acquaintances [1] made a thoughtful comparison between an entitlement mindset and gratitude that I thought worth exploring more fully in the brief time I have available early this afternoon.  As a civilization, and speaking specifically of the United States, as a nation, we struggle with the problem of entitlement.  People believe they are entitled to a job, entitled to honor, and entitled to success, entitled to free healthcare and education (for which there were riots in England last year, lest we forget).

When something is entitled it is expected automatically as a right, without any kind of labor or any kind of effort.  What we feel entitled to represents that which we take for granted, take as a given, and not only show no desire to work for but show no gratitude for.  We feel entitled in our society to a lot of freedoms (and, as I have come to learn through experience, these freedoms cannot be taken for granted in other countries, or even at home), and because they are “rights” we often do not show gratitude for those who have fought and died for them.  This is to our loss.

Today is Thanksgiving Day.  Here in Thailand I am about to head off on a Sung-tow to eat a fine Thanksgiving spread paid for by my employers, Legacy Institute.  When I return I wish to write at more length about that which I am grateful for.  Nonetheless, we cannot be grateful unless we realize that what we have is a gift.  That which we feel entitled too or that which we take for granted is that which we are not grateful for and that which we are in danger of losing.  There is a lot in this day and age we feel entitled to.  It is my grim musing that we will find out that we aren’t really entitled to anything at all.  Our very existence is a gift.  If we are born Americans, we are luckier than the vast majority of people born on the face of the earth.   This is not a right; it is a privilege and one most of us do not deserve.  That said, it is also an opportunity to help make the world just a little better of a place through our actions with what we have been given (without seeking to absolve others of their own burdens of responsibility either).

And America is a generous country–probably too much so.  Gratitude cuts both ways, though.  We need to be grateful for what God has given us (which means we have to take stock of our blessings and recognize that these are, by and large, not earned, even if they require works).  Just like we cannot earn salvation we do not earn a decent living, a good family, a good marriage, or a fortunate and successful life.  All of these depend to some extent on fortune (for time and chance happen to us all), though even if we are given these things they require a lot of work to maintain, and require extreme amounts of work to build.  Infrastructure is something we often take for granted, and that includes the infrastructure of family and community, and not merely that of buildings, roads, buildings, water, power, and sewage lines, and communication networks.

And not only do we tend to show a lack of gratitude for what we have been given by God, through our contemporaries and ancestors, others have often failed to show gratitude for what we have given them.  They take us for granted just as we take our continued wealth and power and success for granted.  This cannot continue.  That which we have to give and receive are both limited, and therefore we must both be grateful for what we have (and show it, which can be hard for many of us, myself included) as well as receive gratitude for that which we give to others.  For let not our good deeds be taken for granted either.  Empires and societies crumble when they no longer either give or expect gratitude for their services.  Let not ours be added to that lengthy and melancholy list.

[1] http://historygal.com/2011/11/23/thankful/