GOD, TODAY I JUST WANT TO TELL YOU SOMETHING LOVELY.
The news arrived while you were doing something else. You reread the message, smiled at your phone and immediately looked for the name of someone to tell. Perhaps you had waited weeks for that reply. Or perhaps it is something small that has filled you with joy today.
You can tell God too, just like that, without preparing a speech. You do not have to add a worry to make this spiritual call seem more justified. You can seek him because you are happy and want to share this part of your day.
Prayer has room for excitement too
Sometimes we associate prayer mainly with need: an exam, treatment, a decision. We turn to God when something is missing, then feel we have little to say once life gives us breathing space.
There is no need to turn this into another reproach. It can be a chance to deepen our trust. Relationships we cherish also include stories that only seem unnecessary: something funny, a lovely encounter, a small success we enjoy naming.
In prayer we are not informing God about something he missed. We open our lives to him. Life includes days when we come home feeling unexpectedly lighter, too.
Coming back to say thank you
In Luke’s Gospel, ten men with leprosy encounter Jesus and are cleansed as they go to show themselves to the priests. One returns, praising God and thanking Jesus. He is a Samaritan.
In his catechesis of 30 December 2020, Francis returns to this episode to speak about thanksgiving. Giving thanks recognises a gift and opens a relationship with the one who made it possible. It does not reduce everything to an achievement for which we alone deserve credit.
That does not erase your effort. You can be proud of studying, working and finding the courage to try. Gratitude can embrace that very journey: the strength you received, someone who helped you, an opportunity to begin again.
Good news does not prove you are loved more
When something goes well, we may instinctively read it as a sign of special favour. But success is not a ranking of God’s love. Someone who does not receive the answer they hoped for today is no less heard or worthy.
Thanksgiving does not require an explanation for your whole life. You can rejoice in an opportunity without concluding that every closed door was punishment. You can be happy and still carry questions that have not found peace.
Your joy need not become a performance for others. It can remain simple and discreet. It may also make you more attentive to someone else’s joy, even when it takes a different form from what you wanted for yourself.
How do you tell God something lovely?
Use your own words. Say you were afraid and can breathe now. Name the people you want to thank. Pause for a few moments before moving to the next task.
If you share the day with someone, thanks can continue beyond prayer: a call to someone who supported you, a message to someone who believed in you, an act of care. Your relationship with God passes through these moments too.
You do not need to extend the moment until it feels solemn. It might last as long as a smile at the window. God, something lovely happened today. I wanted to tell you. Then return to your day, carrying the pleasure of having noticed it rather than letting it slip past.
