One of the great teachers in the spiritual life, Meister Eckhart, said: “If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.” That seems somewhat strange. What about prayers of contrition? or prayers of petition? Why is gratitude “enough?” What Meister Eckhart wants us to understand is that saying “thank you” puts us in right relationship with God. An attitude of gratitude corrects our temptation to imagine that we need something other than what we have right now in order to be happy. All is gift from God and God is not a stingy giver. Once we realize that every breath we take, every move we make is a gift then we understand that all will be well.
