Her.meneutics: 'One Thousand Gifts,' Reconsidered

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August 26, 2011

'One Thousand Gifts,' Reconsidered

A second take on Ann Voskamp's bestseller about gratitude.

Micha Boyett Hohorst, guest blogger

Like every other woman in Western Christendom it seems, I’ve been reading Ann Voskamp’s One Thousand Gifts. This month our family moved from San Francisco to Austin, Texas. The book group for the church I visited last week? Reading it in October. The women’s group of the church I looked up on the Internet? Reading it in September. And why? With its lyrical — some might say grammatically adventurous — prose ("I am all eye, seeing through life as glass to God"), the book is nothing like the prose we’re used to from our Zondervan-pressed inspirationals.

Though everyone may be talking about it, not everyone is convinced that the book belongs alongside C. S. Lewis and Oswald Chambers in the devotional canon. Two weeks ago, regular Her.meneutics writer Rachel Marie Stone critiqued the book, believing Voskamp’s emphasis on Eucharisteo (joyful gratitude) is overreaching as “the key that opens all locks” in the Christian’s spiritual life. Stone expressed concern that gratitude was being upheld as an additional requirement for salvation to be effective.

Stone also noted that Voskamp’s “wrestling to be grateful for everything” is not necessarily biblical, citing a scene from the book in which one of Voskamp’s sons throws a piece of toast in his brother’s face. In that moment of anger and frustration, time seems to pause and Voskamp grasps for thanksgiving, a “Zen-like acceptance” that seems Stone says runs counter to biblical examples. Stone cited the Book of Job and Jesus’ prayer from the cross as proof that thanksgiving is not a proper response to all of life's circumstances.

The comments in response to Stone’s post were passionate. Whatever the concerns many of us may have (I for one could have done without the bit about making love to God in Paris — what would John Calvin say?), women are connecting to this book. It’s worth asking why the book has captivated enough women to keep it on The New York Times bestseller list for months?

When my 3-year-old was born, I had romantic notions of the hours I would spend breastfeeding him: hours to finally be the woman of intercessory prayer I’d always wanted to be, hours for motherhood to wise me up, make me deep and transformed. Instead, my nipples hurt. I worried about homemade baby food versus the jarred stuff and whether I was enforcing enough tummy time. I smiled at him and he stared at me. After months of this, I realized I’d been failing the “motherhood is making me a wise woman of God” plan.

Then he was crawling, walking, running, shouting “no!” And I lost all sense of quiet in my life. I’d try to wake up early for prayer, and he would wake up early as well. I’d plan on transformative contemplation during naptime, but my sleep-deprived body would nod off along with him. I realized I needed to relearn prayer.

I read about monastic practices, taped prayers all over my home. I told myself to pray during snack time and lunchtime and every moment of pause in my day as a SAHM. Some days it worked. Some days I felt the failure I’d been bearing for the entirety of my son’s life.

Fast-forward: Mom to two, longing for the quiet days of my first son’s babyhood, longing for the right catalyst to launch me into the kind of praying life, the constant response to Christ, the renewed sense of the Spirit in my day, that I know would make me more kind to my children, less anxious, more wholehearted in my view of the world and joyful toward the monotony of the work of the home.

I read Voskamp’s book and began listing 1,000 things for which I am grateful. And I learned why this book , despite its improper grammar, is so popular: Mothers love this book because we have forgotten how to connect with God. We’ve lost our sense of wonder at the world. Many of us are so consumed with the details and demands of motherhood that the line linking us to God has gotten tangled and dusty. In One Thousand Gifts, we find a wise mother telling us how she discovered God in the midst of this life with children. It isn’t by recommending another Bible study. (We’ve tried it.) It isn’t by guilting us into more time in prayer. (We feel guilty enough.) It’s as simple as listing the beautiful things God is giving us, right now in this moment.

One Thousand Gifts is changing my life, not because gratitude is the key to salvation, but because gratefulness brings me into God’s presence every time. Gratefulness is simple, yet it is shaping me into a woman who prays while doing the dishes, folding the laundry, and singing in the car with my kid. Without God’s healing presence, I am like Voskamp was: anxious, quick to despair, continually asking questions about why God allows what God allows. When I escape my glaring natural (and broken) tendencies and thank my Lord for what is truly a gift in my everyday life, the poopy underwear is not a deal breaker for my mood, the baby’s cries are not worth my raised blood pressure and raised voice at my preschooler. When I’m grateful, the world is not only beautiful, God is good and worthy of adoration too.

As Voskamp says, “Eucharisteo precedes the miracle.” We enter into “his gates with thanksgiving,” not with plans, not with goals, or books, or commitments.

Thanksgiving is simple. And that’s the beauty of this book. Sometimes we all need to remember that God is here right now, in the midst of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich. And that’s a sandwich I’m suddenly grateful for. Who knew?

Micha Boyett Hohorst blogs at MamaMonk.com, and just moved from San Francisco to Austin with her husband and two boys. This is her first Her.meneutics post.

Comments

I have not read Ann Voskamp's book yet, (I do intend to.) so I was shocked to learn in your post that there is negative commentary out there on it. I have only heard wonderful things. The "making love to God in Paris" part was difficult for me to read(again, that was the first time reading it), but I don't know why it was difficult. It is just an image I have never brought together. I do think you have assessed her book accurately as to why it is so popular for women. It can be taken as a pollyanna approach to Christianity, but I agree that it is meant to help us view all of life, even the bad, through the lens of gratefulness because there is beauty of sanctification that occurs in these moments and for that we should be grateful.

Thank you for your very thought provoking post!
Brenda

That picture of trying to use the computer made me laugh. It's something any parent (mother or father) can relate to.

Cheers,
Tim

First off I've not read Rachel Stone's review of the book, nor have I read the book itself. So why am I commenting? Well, I've come to the (very startling) conclusion that something (or someone) need not be perfect for God to use. I am reminded of this just about every time I criticize something only to find that God has used that very thing to bless someone else. This is NOT intended to excuse a lack of discernment or to advocate a relativistic approach to what we accept or reject. But we should never fail to take the Sovereignty of God into account and understand that He uses what He wills when He wills for His own purposes. After all, look how he used a donkey to speak to a stubborn prophet!!

Just so you know there's somebody out there - I have never heard of the book and I have never heard of the author. So I guess not every Christian woman is reading the book.

The book is a joy to read. HOWEVER! You should hear Ann speak.........music to our ears. One might even call her angelic voice - profound. I've started my daily list!

I get the gratitude part and how looking at life through that lens can be redemptive. However, when I was looking at a few pages of this book on Amazon to see what all the fuss was about, I was so put off by the idea of making love to God that I could go no further, nor could I recommend it. Her writing style was also distracting to me, but I know many women (generally of the more emotive type) who love the book. Personally, give me Kathleen Norris any day!

This blog is new to me as I followed Micha to this space.

So I went back to read the original review by Rachel Stone and all the comments following it and then came back to this one. Personally, I think BOTH reviewers are right on target.

There are some things in Ann's book that are troubling to some, both stylistically and theologically. AND her admonition to be grateful as a discipline is a welcome word in this day and age, and particularly so for busy moms with tiny ones to care for.

I think perhaps the term "Zen-like" was an unfortunate turn of phrase to describe a woman with such a deeply Christ-seeking and Christ-honoring heart. Other than that one phrase, I thought Rachel's review was worth reading and heeding. Ann's book is not a panacea - and I don't think she would ever say she intended it to be so. It is a lovely compilation of personal stories and reflections that encourage us all to learn the healing power of saying thank you - specifically and intentionally. But she does sometimes move across a couple of lines theologically for some of us. They are NOT heretical lines, they are interpretive lines. Ann, Rachel and Micha are all God's much-loved daughters and I am grateful to each of them for the words they have written.

Thank-you CT for taking a second look at 1000 Gifts and allowing someone who has been blessed by Ann's message (as so many of us have) to explore it further.

This book is going on my shelf of spiritual writing to read and reread, right next to Kathleen Norris.

Out here in rural South Dakota, the book is still unknown. BUT, I remember Rachel's commentary on it and didn't agree. This one is lovely. Even though I've never read this book what Micha has written here seems to have touched the heart of the book (and how would I know that if I haven't read it....I don't know -- I just do). I am going to start a list of 1000 things to be grateful for too. And I am going to give this suggestion to two studies I lead. It is a good one. I've written a few columns on things I am grateful for. They are always well received. People feel a freedom when they are grateful. And being grateful can put people's eyes on God, for sure with Believers, and often with nonbelievers. Glory, glory, glory. Enter His courts with Praise -- I think that is like a password. Too often we Christians have looked at it as a rule.

The struggles talked about in this post are universal to parents I believe, especially parents who are at home with their young kiddos. Thank you Micha!

Guess I shouldn't be surprised at how willing people are to lambast a writer who writes what God gives her, but it still makes me angry, sad, and achy. Ann is a brave voice and a strong heart, with her "adventurous grammar." And her message--which is God's--has the power to change the world.

Alison, I too had never heard of this author or this book, so you are not the only Christian woman who has not heard about it or read it.

It is not on my to read list, and I don't plan to add it. So why comment, some may ask. I can, however, comment on "women are connecting to this book" and it "has captivated enough women to keep it on the New York Times bestseller list for months". This is not criteria by which one can evaluate the value or theological soundness of any book. The majority is not always right; many are swept away by the tide of public opinion.

I would caution those who do chose to read this author's writings, to evaluate what is on the pages by the light of God's word and not how long it remains on the New York Times bestseller list. This is NOT a critique of this book or author, just a caution to use God's discernment if you choose to read and evaluate the book for yourself. Don't take someone's opinion as truth; as the Bereans did, search for yourselves against the standard of God's word.

I have to laugh when I read about the grammar critique of the book...I agree: all the verbs ending in -ing lined up together separated by all the commas. I found myself writing like that for awhile. Very hypnotic. But the beauty of the book is the beauty of its cover...who could resist it. Genius.

I have read 1000 Gifts , and now I am reading it again! I personally found her poetic approach to prose refreshing! It got my attention in a special way that made me think more about what she was communicating! I especially feel that the comment about making love to God was shared out of context! It was a spiritual analogy! I felt she was expressing that in the way that we give ourselves with abandon in lovemaking, we can give ourselves with abandon to ur God in a spiritual sense! I truly do not believe that she meant anything weird or sketchy or suggestive in that statement! For me, the Lord has used this book powerfully in my life! I very unexpectedly experienced the death of my treasured daughter in April! This book was given to me as a gift soon after! In dwelling in a place of gratitude, I find myself healing and restoring from this devastating sadness! I have loved how real and honest and open Ann has been! My second time around has been even more powerful in my life than the first! I am sure that I will re-read it many times! I am grateful that God her the courage to share her journey with us!

My book club read 1000 Gifts last month. We all loved it, for different reasons; none of us took offense to making love to God (read--intercourse). I guess when I read the critiques and comments (both good and bad), I can't help but wonder-- why such legalism? Why can't it be a beautiful, unique, language-rich story written by a woman who obviously seeks her Lord with all her heart, mind, soul and spirit? Why do we either criticize her as though she was trying to rewrite the Scriptures or become so enraptured by her that we attempt to ride the coattails of her personal journey with Jesus?

What if we could take the spirit in which Voskamp wrote the book and apply it to our own relationship with Christ? Maybe it wouldn't look like a list of gratitude. Probably, we wouldn't start speaking poetry in prose. But, I bet if we would pursue Jesus with the same intensity she did, we would be surprised to find ourselves making love to our Lord, too.

Micha, thank you so much for your honest thoughts about life, mothering and the grace God has given through reading 1000 Gifts.

Dear Micha:

Thanks for your lovely review of Ann Voskamp's book. For those small groups and book clubs who are reading and discussing Ann's book, I just wanted to alert you to the Readers Guide that Zondervan has posted on its web site: www.zondervan.com. Search for One Thousand Gifts, and you will find a pdf of the Readers Guide.

Happy reading to you all.

I love it that Ann Voskamp is the one who linked us here to the reviews of her book. I read 1000 Gifts with the Bloom Book Club and enjoyed every critiqued chapter while listening to Ann's humble heart on the v-blog. The woman is genuinely swept away by her LORD. A "grasped" woman! Her "tongue is the pen of a ready writer (Psa 45:1)." I'm intrigued by Rachel and Micha's weighty comments from deep within. I too hold deep thoughts about what I see being communicated in Christian circles in our day. Do people really want to draw near to God or draw up a plan of action to get there? So many books smack a works-righteousness ... and I'm just not there anymore. I've just faced my mortality as cancer swelled in my lymph nodes. I want to find my God and fall forward on a very Good God, Who is always doing me good, Jer 33:20, even in cancer. Repentance results in gratitude---not the other way around. Voskamp's verbage touched deep places in my heart making me want to go to Him for Life, John 5:39-40---not just to make a gratitude list of 1000 gifts and study diligently---but to really find Him under the "orb awe of the moon." I wonder if Job could have made a list of 1,000 gifts as he sat in his mess under many moonlit morbidly dark nights? Do we look deeply enough within to truly see the evil, what stirs in our hearts, as the toast flies? "There's a stinking pig in the temple." And it's me. Ann invites me to find my Good God in the cancer of my soul not just my body. I won't be making any list nor checking it twice but I am a little more aware of my impact on my world and my failure to love, a little more alive in Christ as I learn "to not profane the moment and stay in it." This high school English teacher in Austin, Texas, thinks that Ann's beautiful haunting rhetoric is riveting and redemptive.

I have a plaque in my home that says, "A friend is someone who knows the song in my heart and sings it back to me when I have forgotten the words." This is what Ann did for me! She is my friend even though we have never met. When I lost my husband 10 years ago I learned the value of being grateful in the midst of deep valleys. I had learned the art of seeing....of naming.....of trusting in the God of my yesterdays to be Enough for my tomorrows. But new pressures and stresses and life changes had caused me to forget. I was struggling in my spirit and didn't know the way out. I read Ann's book, and she sang the words back to me that the Lord gave me when He gave me a new song! This is why I love this book and have given away over 25 copies! Thank you, Lord, for this friend named Ann Voskamp!

"In EVERYTHING give thanks, for this is the WILL OF GOD in Christ Jesus concerning you." 1 Thessalonians 5:18 -(emphasis added)
How can anyone think that this is not a biblical premise. The original sin was the lack of thankfulness to the God who had given everything, but withheld the fruit of one tree! I admit I was a little put off by the odd expressions, but I thought it might be the fact that she is Canadian and lives in a Mennonite area. But I got over it quickly when I saw the amazing "meat" of the book and atarted my list of gifts. Praise God for Ann Voscamp!

I am presently reading the book and was searching to see what others have been inspired to do with it. Its good to see some things haven't changed, that Christians are still so good at tearing each other up. Makes me remember why I've left the church.

"As Voskamp says, “Eucharisteo precedes the miracle.” We enter into “his gates with thanksgiving,” not with plans, not with goals, or books, or commitments. " Agree with that!

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