Our lives are a gift. Our faith is unearned. Our prayer is given to us with no strings attached.

Why does God give us, as ungrateful as we are, so many pleasures, so many graces, so many delights?

I don’t know.

What I do know is that there is joy in giving to someone you love.

What I do know is that when we gratefully receive God and God’s way of life, we give God pleasure.

What I do know is that in gratitude we become more alive, more free, and better able to love others.

{Mark Yaconelli in Wonder, Fear, and Longing.  Emphasis mine.}