November 30, 2025
Throughout this season of preparation and anticipation, we invite you to join us in a series of blogs that focus on gratitude, awe and adoration, intercession and compassion, contemplation, and presence. Like any practice, the act of doing the ‘thing’ is crucial to the transformation it incites. All We Can champions the decolonisation of aid; we seek to challenge what harms in the world while nurturing what heals. We do this so that communities thrive. We know, however, that talking about it is not enough. So, we join with the shepherds and expectant parents, amid the hustle and bustle of preparing for a feast and celebration, to practice who we want to be for the world we want to see.
In each blog, we share a little context of the practice, a story from our partners, and then give an idea for you to use in your own practice.
‘You will never sustain development when the answers come from outside, into the community. What we have discovered is that people themselves know their own challenges… Our role as Eagles is to facilitate problem-solving, Victor Mughogho, Director of EAGLES
This week, we are focusing on gratitude.
Gratitude is ‘an affirmation of the good and the recognition that the good originates outside the self.’ Robert Emmons
Mima Clinton (34 years old) attended All We Can’s partner SHIFSD’s agricultural training in Liberia. As a woman, Mima is in the minority as a farmer and is proud of her accomplishments in the course, particularly as she is now training other women to farm.
‘You have to choose what you love to do. If you choose what you love to do, you will put time into it and you will do it to your best… you will be able to sustain you and sustain your family and other community dwellers around you.’ Mima Clinton
In the context of practising gratitude, Mima has identified what she is good at, what her choices are and how she can do that sustainably for the benefit of herself and the community. Her gratitude is two-fold, appreciating what she is capable of and what she has achieved, and outward, towards SHIFSD for the opportunity their programme has provided. Together, her ability, attitude and skills are interdependent with the opportunity, encouragement and training the relationship has provided.
This is where the practice of gratitude can be so powerful. Intentionally noticing what we can be grateful for shifts how we see our reality. Mima’s environment hasn’t significantly changed; she has, her mindset has. With the support of SHIFSD, her self-belief, capability and appreciation of what she can do have changed how she engages in the world, she says, “I can…speak up , and it motivates me…And I will get the opportunity…to achieve my goal.”
Numerous studies have shown that human beings can have a ‘negativity bias’. We tend to remember traumatic experiences more than positive ones, experience negative events with greater emotion than the good ones, and pay more attention to bad news. Evolution-wise, this has stood us in good stead; our attention needed to be on the threats around us, as a matter of life and death. However, there are links that this can increase feelings of sadness, helplessness and guilt that contribute to depression and anxiety. It’s important, then, that we are aware of our tendency to notice the negative and choose to redress the balance.
Choice and mindset are such fundamental aspects of Mima’s ability to thrive and succeed. It’s why in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, ‘meaningful work’ is included as one of the 17. As human beings, we are more than just our bodies; we are heart, mind and soul too. Jesus reminds us that our love for God is more than a simple emotion, but a full orientation of our whole selves. We need to be able to make decisions about our lives and thoughts, to have a sense of purpose and to see that within a bigger picture. This isn’t just about choice over what we eat, or where we live, but how we think and perceive the world. Transformational change, for any of us, impacts all areas.
‘Right now, if it were not for SHIFSD, then I’m still at zero level. But the training from SHIFSD had taken me from zero level to a manager. So it has brought great impact on my life.’ Mima Clinton
Let’s Practice
‘Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer. And let faith be the bridge you build to overcome evil and welcome good.’ Maya Angelou
Some suggestions for your practice of gratitude this season:
Look back with gratitude
As you find memories unpacking Christmas tree decorations, familiar festive songs, treats or photos, make a note or take a moment to be grateful for those memories, bitter or sweet (or, often, a blend of both).
If the memories include other people, why not send them a message or include them in a card?
Alternatively, take a blank Christmas card and write them into it, tucking it away in your decoration box to read next year.
Look forward with gratitude
As you prepare for Christmas day, whether you’re celebrating alone or with a group, notice the people and things you can be grateful for. It might be as mundane as finding the end of the cellotape with ease or having a new person or opportunity in your life.
If any of these gratitudes stand out, why not write them down in an email or letter and send them to yourself or someone else? If your email allows, schedule the email to come in the New Year, when the lights have been taken down, and a warm memory would be a welcome arrival.
Sit with gratitude
Make some popcorn or buy some cranberries or dried fruit and thread them onto some cotton. For each item, think of one thing to be grateful for. The smaller and less impressive, the better! The key and challenge is to train the eye to see the myriad of good things around. You will be left with a pretty Christmas decoration for the tree, hearth, or hallway, and a memory of each moment.
Give thanks
As you notice who you are grateful for, tell them. If it is God, centre yourself in God’s presence during one or all the activities first.
Breathe in your awareness of God, breathe out all that pulls at your attention.
If it is a person, consider when and how you might tell them that you are grateful for them and what they have done. Be specific if you can. Embed your practice of gratitude into something tangible.
‘Everything can be taken from a [person] but…the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances.’ Viktor Frankl
Learn about how practice fuels and shapes justice here: Practices for Justice: HOW shall we do justice? – The Methodist Church
