Praying for Gratitude
Among the many things I notice as I foray into the jungle of social media, that artificial jungle red in tooth and claw, is that nobody appears to be grateful for anything. Women look upon men as their oppressors, while men aim sour jokes at the faddish victim-pleading of women. You gain status by expressing disdain for your forebears and hatred of your nation’s ways. If you are a member of a church, you raise yourself a-tiptoe as you enter the Temple of Right Thinking, saying, “Lord, I thank thee that thou hast not made me like other men, such as this so-called Christian here. He tries to follow the laws of morality that you and your apostles preached, while I, in my great faith, break them all and encourage others to do the same, so great is my love for them.” No one will acknowledge a gift unless the acknowledgment is actually a barb for their opponents to swallow.
I am reminded of that sad and brave song in As You Like It, sung by one of the lords in exile who has followed his master the duke into the forest of Arden, where food and a dry covering for your head are not easy to find:
Blow, blow, thou winter wind;
Thou art not so unkind
As man’s ingratitude.
Thy tooth is not so keen,
Because thou art not seen,
Although thy breath be rude.
Heigh-ho, sing heigh-ho, unto the holly,
Most friendship is feigning, most loving, mere folly;
Then sing heigh-ho, the holly,
This life is most jolly.
THIS ARTICLE ONLY AVAILABLE TO SUBSCRIBERS.
FOR QUICK ACCESS:
Anthony Esolen is Distinguished Professor of Humanities at Thales College and the author of over 30 books, including Real Music: A Guide to the Timeless Hymns of the Church (Tan, with a CD), Out of the Ashes: Rebuilding American Culture (Regnery), and The Hundredfold: Songs for the Lord (Ignatius). He has also translated Dante’s Divine Comedy (Random House) and, with his wife Debra, publishes the web magazine Word and Song (anthonyesolen.substack.com). He is a senior editor of Touchstone.
Get six issues (one year) of Touchstone PLUS full online access including pdf downloads for only $39.95. That's only $3.34 per month!
Get a one-year full-access subscription to the Touchstone online archives for only $19.95. That's only $1.66 per month!
bulk subscriptions
Order Touchstone subscriptions in bulk and save $10 per sub! Each subscription includes 6 issues of Touchstone plus full online access to touchstonemag.com—including archives, videos, and pdf downloads of recent issues for only $29.95 each! Great for churches or study groups.
Transactions will be processed on a secure server.
more from the online archives
11.5—September/October 1998
Speaking the Truths Only the Imagination May Grasp
An Essay on Myth & 'Real Life' by Stratford Caldecott
31.4—July/August 2018
Labels & the Ecumenism of Discipleship by James M. Kushiner
24.5—Sept/Oct 2011
A Critical Memoir of Thomas Merton at Gethsemani Abbey by Patrick Henry Reardon
calling all readers
Please Donate
"There are magazines worth reading but few worth saving . . . Touchstone is just such a magazine."
—Alice von Hildebrand
"Here we do not concede one square millimeter of territory to falsehood, folly, contemporary sentimentality, or fashion. We speak the truth, and let God be our judge. . . . Touchstone is the one committedly Christian conservative journal."
—Anthony Esolen, Touchstone senior editor
