“Gratitude is not only the
greatest of virtues,
but the parent of
all the others.”
Marcus Tullius Cicero

When I began writing about gratitude in December 2006, I had no idea that the concept would become a popular topic in the years to come. I also didn’t realize that I had so much to learn about gratitude in my own life. All I knew at the time was that I had spent many years taking people and things for granted. This was not something I was doing consciously. I never intended to be ungrateful. My perception of my life at that time, however, was clearly one of achievement, rather than one of giftedness. I had this mistaken belief that I was where I was in my life because of things I had accomplished, and that I had somehow earned the status I enjoyed in this world. I could not have been more misguided.

It’s interesting, and a bit disheartening, to realize that despite having attended a Jesuit high school and two Jesuit universities for undergraduate and graduate studies, I had somehow missed learning about the most foundational virtue to be drawn from Ignatian spirituality: gratitude.

Ignatius of Loyola agreed wholeheartedly with Cicero in stating that gratitude is the foundational virtue, the virtue from which all other virtues flow. 

Humility is a highly-valued virtue. This is the virtue which should have informed me that all that I have is not the result of my own efforts, but of God’s grace. My perspective on life changed dramatically when I acknowledged that my talents, opportunities, and accomplishments have been gifts, rather than achievements. 

Generosity, too, is a highly-respected virtue. When I came to the realization that what I have is the result of God’s giftedness, rather than my own accomplishments, I was able to understand that nothing is truly mine in the possessive sense. Rather than considering myself to be the owner of knowledge, experience, or material possessions, I am able to see that my actual role in the world is to be a good steward of these things. They’re not mine to keep. They are mine to share with others, who, in turn, will share with others.

The virtue of joy is also a byproduct of a grateful heart. By embracing an attitude of gratitude, and consciously choosing to view the world through the lens of gratitude, I am better able to recognize God’s presence in the ordinary, everyday experiences of my life.

In addition to being a virtue, gratitude also has the potential to serve as a barometer of our spiritual health. A focus on gratitude helps me to recognize, and to remember, that we are recipients of God’s love and grace before we are capable of being achievers. 

In his article The First Virtue: Saint Ignatius on the Power of Gratitude, author Andy Otto reminds us that in the garden of life, “gratitude isn’t simply one virtue among many.” Rather, he writes, it is “the soil from which all others naturally grow.”

It’s been almost 20 years since I began my gratitude journey. I’ve learned much about the importance of being grateful in life. I’ve also learned how essential it is that we express the gratitude we feel to those responsible for it. As William Arthur Ward said so eloquently, “Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”