The Evolving Faith Podcast Habitual Gratitude, with B.T. Harman
B.T. opens by acknowledging all of the understandable reasons we have to be angry—racism, homophobia, misogyny, the damage caused by nonaffirming Christians, and so much pain all around us. But B.T. realized that there came a time where his anger turned into what he calls “doom rehearsal,” which is the habitual consumption of presumed despair based on the assumption that everything is only getting worse and love won’t win in the end. To combat the toil that doom rehearsal was taking on himself and his art, B.T. decided to reinvest his emotional energy with the discipline of habitual gratitude. He reminds listeners that the call for gratitude is pervasive in Scripture and is correlated with greater happiness, improved health, and better relationships, and it is an antidote to materialism and negative emotions. After sharing some of his own practices of gratitude, B.T. concludes with this encouragement: “As you work through your pain, leave some room for gratitude.” Following B.T.’s talk, Jeff and Sarah discuss healthy and unhealthy forms of gratitude practice and what they are grateful for in their own lives.