By Heather Melton, (she/her) UTO Staff Officer

Recently, I saw a post online where someone posted a poem reflecting on Anne Lamott’s book “Help, Thanks, Wow.” In it, the poet mused that if you’ve been feeling weird lately, it might be because you’re stuck on the first one. This hit home for me because I think I’ve been a rut of “help” prayers lately and it made me realize that I’m not alone in that place. I realized I needed to take some time to rest, get back to thanks and wow a bit, and it felt like God rewarded me with opportunities for both—from crisp air in the mornings (a sure sign of fall weather coming to New Mexico), to delayed flights (which meant I could get on a direct flight from Chicago and home almost four hours earlier than expected), to the joy found in volunteer potatoes growing in our garden. I am still saying a lot of help prayers, but I’m trying to be more intentional in balancing them. 

I’ve also decided it is time to pay more attention to how prayers (and actions) of thanks and wow impact others. Recently, I was driving down one of the busier roads on our side of town. It’s a four-lane road on which folks drive much faster than the 45 mph speed limit; I like to think that’s because the road is named after a famous car racing family from Albuquerque. On this day, there was a car broken down in the right lane about four cars in front of me. Typically, folks see this, and dart into the left lane, leaving others stuck because the traffic has built up, and it always annoys me. But on this day, the person behind me pulled into the left lane, and then waited so I could also pull over. I did the same for the person in front of me, and so on until we all got over and could pass the slow vehicle. I commented on what just happened to my kids who were in the car with me, and said, this is how it should be; we should notice and be kind to those around us. I told them how thankful I was to the car behind me and to all the cars in front of me who worked together so we could all easily get around the car. It was a moment of thanks and wow. I didn’t think much about it again until a few weeks later. We were in the car and a similar situation happened with a slow-moving vehicle, but folks weren’t letting people over; once I got over, I let those trapped in front of me into the lane to pass. My daughter had been watching and remembered the earlier event. She then commented on how I did the right thing to let the folks over, and how that probably improved their day because they had been stuck longer than us. Wow, what a prayer of thanks I said in that moment that she caught me being kind instead of being in a rush and only thinking about my need to get to where we were going. It also made me realize that kindness and gratitude build up inside of us. 

UTO adopted a new tagline for the triennium: Practice Gratitude: Change the World. For those of you who like to collect UTO memorabilia, we’re also making a sticker for each year of the triennium—the first was the sun with “Practice Gratitude,” and this year we’re sending out “Gratitude is my Superpower.” This might seem silly or grandiose, but ultimately, it’s true. When we practice gratitude, we’re noticing the ways we are connected to each other and receiving the other person as gift. That person who let everyone over? They are a gift. Their kindness built up through a chain of busy people, and those folks were likely happier and kinder than had they been left to try to get around the broken car on their own. We are better together, and we need one another. We are the living, breathing, walking-about prayers of thanks and wow. When we practice gratitude, we are softening the edges on a world that has grown hard. We are acknowledging the gift of the person in front of us, and that we can’t do it alone. Likewise, there are so many reasons to pray “help” these days, but when we say thank you and give funds to UTO, UTO makes sure those funds are getting to the people who can help, who are called and ready to make a difference. It’s easy to become jaded, and to think that it is every person for themselves, but that simply isn’t the good news of our faith.

I want to invite you to spend this month trying to say and be a prayer of thanks and wow. Let’s notice all the good things God is doing in our lives, in our communities, and in the world, and give thanks for them. Let’s notice when we are the reason someone can say thanks or wow to God, and notice when we can pass along a kindness received. And, if you’re feeling overwhelmed and like the prayers of help are endless, then know that this UTO community is out there, spreading kindness, practicing gratitude, and trying to change the world by showing up and answering God’s call to love and serve. Know that we’re here for you, and glad you’re here, too.