Customer Reviews

Radical Gratitude: Discovering Joy through Everyday Thankfulness

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In his foreword to RADICAL GRATITUDE, Charles Colson says, "Few authors have dealt with the subject [of gratitude], certainly not in the very practical way that Ellen does in this book. Properly understood, the daily practice of thankfulness to God is a transforming tool of divine proportions."

Vaughn has collaborated with Chuck Colson on eight nonfiction books, and the format of RADICAL GRATITUDE may seem familiar to Colson readers. You'll find a strong personal, anecdotal voice, starting with the first line of the first chapter: "It was the day I had dreaded all my life." The chapter relates the scene of her mother's death and introduces the topic of gratitude and renewal: "The doorway of death unleashed an absolute flood of gratitude that has rushed like a river over my life, reconfiguring my landscapes."

But this is a "teaching" book more than a memoir. The second chapter, for instance, introduces Scriptures about and classic definitions of gratitude, particularly those of Jonathan Edwards, who distinguished "natural gratitude" --- for gifts --- from "gracious gratitude" that "gives thanks for who God is."

Other chapters roll out illustrative feature-type, third-person anecdotes, usually based on interviews: Father Jenco, a hostage in Lebanon in the 1980s; Paul Galanti, a POW in North Vietnam; Bob Meyers, a widower who lost a brother at the hands of the Washington sniper in 2002; and the rape recovery of a pseudonymous congressman's wife.

Vaughn lays out a strong gospel message, followed by an extended emphasis on repentance in the context of "overcoming obstacles" that "block us from joyfully thanking God for our own rescue." Then, halfway through the book, she turns to "four things that we can do to practice the presence of gratitude," which in turn have a snowball effect, gratitude leading to gratitude.

"First, we remember" --- our enslavement, our deliverance, our Deliverer; in this context Vaughn vulnerably tells of her struggle with chronic depression and God's deliverance, even if through medication. "Second, we forget" --- our sins, our shame, our personal successes. "Third, we look up to God" --- on this point she turns largely to Scripture reflection and a third-person anecdote. "Fourth, we look around to His people" --- this chapter includes moving accounts of Vaughn's visits with Christians in Eastern Europe.

A final part of the book, "Everyday Gratitude," discusses "practical things we can do to cultivate a grateful heart.... These hold the keys to the secret of responding to the same old stimuli in new ways...so we experience different results than just life as usual." The "things" aren't actions as much as awarenesses of various physical objects --- Ebenezer or remembrance stones --- and sensory triggers that remind one of the good. "God has designed us so that senses can serve as powerful Ebenezers of His faithfulness, and thereby be triggers of gratitude."

At the end RADICAL GRATITUDE is a reminder that one's positive mindset doesn't have to correlate with positive life circumstances, but rather with our acceptance of grace and our habits of looking for its signs everyday.

--- Reviewed by Evelyn Bence

This is a book of transformation designed to help change your point of view to one of gratitude toward God and as a result a life of peace in the midst of turmoil. The text if filled with anecdotes that illustrate a true attitude of radical gratitude extending far beyond the common conceptions. Do you want to get past obstacles that interfere with your joy in life? The answer is to practice the presence of gratitude.

Ellen Vaughn gives practical ways you can recover your joy in life. We all know we have the ability to choose our attitude. The problem is that although we know this to be true we often find that we are unable to actually do it in difficult circumstances. This book teaches how to make gratitude the prevalent attitude in your life. Focused on Christ and everyday thankfulness this book is sure to change many lives. Radical Gratitude is highly recommended to everyone.

As you read this book you are nudged to think of all the things in life, big, small and ordinary, where God was present. You are challenged to believe, trust and give thanks. Wherever you are on your spititual journey, you will find Vaughn's stories meaningful and relevant. I think this is a book that will tough you and you'll appreciate having it and sharing it with others.

Ellen Vaughn is a wonderful story teller. This book is one of her finest. It could be hard to be grateful amidst the death of loved ones, bouts with depression, and the craziness of raising children in American suburbia, but the stories that Ellen tells demonstrate how God's presence unite all of our experiences. I still laugh at the image of the squirrels flying off of an electric birdfeeder in her backyard, and I am moved by the commonplace analogy between stripping antique furniture and the stripping process that God seeks to work on us. Perhaps the best message of the book is the simple reminder that we have so much to be grateful for, even as we are so tempted to concentrate on life's struggles and worry about what comes next. "Radical Gratitude" is aptly titled, for daily living with gratitude is a truly radical thing to do in our time. Thanks to Ellen for reminding us how to do that.

The title of this review has two meanings. The first, I bought this book for my sister as a gift...she requested the title by name. The second meaning is that this book is a great gift in the contents, reminding us to be thankful for what we have and that we can find joy in so doing. Simple truths that many of us know and most of us (I know I do) often ignore or forget. A great little book to lift you up.

Radical Gratitude by Ellen Vaughn is a book full of vivid word pictures and emotionally gripping scenerios that will challenge you to live more purposefully aware and tuned in to life's many opportunities to choose a gratitude attitude. She has a delightful way of connecting chapters--hard to put the book down.

Love this book, I have made it a point to purchase this for many. It's a great reminder on discovering our true joy!

I was VERY excited to read this book. I LOVE the title and description. However, it was very much too slow for my taste. I'm very into focusing on the positive and verbalizing it as well as acting on it, but this book was simply too difficult to read and I wasn't able to finish it because it was so slow.