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Grazie Signore! “Thank you, Lord, for those who have greater gifts.”  

By Anita Mathias

In his excellent The Ragamuffin Gospel, Brennan Manning mentions the limited Antonio Salieri, court composer to the Holy Roman Emperor, who was conscientious, devout, and wildly jealous of the wildly gifted Mozart who–neither conscientious, nor devout–tossed off sublime music in the interludes of a life of “wine, women and song, and he didn’t sing much.”

Nevertheless, at the end of each piece of limited, uninspired music, Salieri added a postscript, “Grazie Signore.” Thank you, Lord.

Manning continues,“Grazie Signore, for other people who have greater gifts than mine.”

And that was a prayer I had never thought of praying.

* * *

Those of us brought up by restless parents with unfulfilled ambitions—and I guess that’s many of us!!—have, from childhood, absorbed ambition and striven to be the best, to win the prize, the first prize, if there are two.

An Oxford undergraduate recently told me that at school, she had to be the thinnest, the cleverest, the best in every field she was interested in, and there were many. At Oxford, however, faced with myriad people just like her, this drive made her ricochet between anorexia and bulimia. And exhaustion. Always exhaustion.

Oh, I know all about burnout and exhaustion (though not about slenderness!)

“If you do one good deed, your reward usually is to be set to do another and harder and better one,” C. S. Lewis, The Horse and His Boy. Since success elevates us to a vaster ocean, this drive to be the best will inevitably burn us out and exhaust us, diminishing potential achievement.

And worse, should God ever grant a foolish Salieriesque desire to be the best, some interest and challenge would leach away from our world. It is a blessing I take for granted—that in my social circles, professional circles and online circles, I continually encounter those who are more intellectually gifted, creatively gifted, spiritually gifted, and better read. Always someone to learn from.

We all take that blessing for granted. Even the greatest living scripture expositor, speaker, scholar, writer, prophet or mystic still has much to learn…from the great cloud of witnesses who have gone before us, leaving silvery snail trails to inspire…

So that’s it for envy—an occupational hazard of writers, according to Bonnie Friedman in her Writing Past Dark. Let me shed it with unforgiveness, and other cancers of the mind.

Grazie Signore, I resolve to inwardly rejoice whenever I read a writer or a blogger quite obviously better than I am.

Grazie Signore, for all those who write with the pen of angels, for they fill the world with exquisite language.

Grazie Signore, for original thinkers who make me too think.

Grazie Signore for the well-stocked mind of scholars.

Grazie Signore for all those who garden better than I, for in meandering around their gardens, I learn.

Grazie Signore for those read your word more deeply than I do, for they show me new things in it.

Grazie Signore, for those who encounter you more deeply than I do, who see your face more clearly, hear your voice more distinctly, for I learn more about you from them.

Grazie Signore, for those who are spiritually gifted, the speakers who revive my flagging spiritual fervour; the prophets who can tune into your thoughts; the mystics who can see your face and feel your heartbeat.

Grazie Signore, for the world so rich, so full of gifts, which you pour freely on all men and women.

 

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Brennan Manning’s prayer: Grazie Signore, thank you, Lord, for those who have greater gifts. Tweet: Brennan Manning’s prayer: Grazie Signore, thank you, Lord, for those who have greater gifts. From @AnitaMathias1 http://ctt.ec/649U2+

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Filed Under: The Power of Gratitude Tagged With: Bonnie Friedman, brennan manning, C. S. Lewis, Envy, Giftedness, gratitude, Mozart, Salieri, The Horse and His Boy, The Ragamuffin Gospel, Writing Past Dark

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Comments

  1. Hunter says

    March 13, 2015 at 1:20 pm

    Point well taken.

    • Anita Mathias says

      March 14, 2015 at 9:33 am

      Thanks, Hunter!

  2. Don says

    March 12, 2015 at 6:25 pm

    I continue to love your blog posts, Anita. I wonder whether you should even entertain the thought of others being “better” (except that it is clear from what you write that it motivates you to achieve even more, as an expression of your true self). Your writing differs from that of others, certainly, and it may not always ring to the ear like some famous works. (But it needs to be said that even Mozart must have produced some mediocre stuff at times.) Nevertheless, it’s easy to see that you have paid a price to develop your craft, to a degree that it has become a vehicle for the anointing you also carry. Perhaps anointing is enough, but when artistry is added to it, something wonderful happens. I’d say that you do have this combination.

    People do need to value both gifting and hard work, because otherwise, we’d have a Communist system in which everyone is the same and nobody is motivated to create anything of lasting value. Still, the whole notion of better and worse implies a man-made system of determining worth that undermines our appreciation of the uniqueness of God-created individuals. I think it’s best to ask whether we’re developing our gifts as the truest expression of our purpose and identity. When I was growing up, learning to play an instrument, I admired recordings of the great concertos. For some people, it could be discouraging to compare themselves with great performers. But for me, after a certain point, it was inspiring. I started to practice more and more, once I began to realize that I could create something in my own way. Now, many years later, I realize that as a youth I was able to sense something of my destiny. Although I’m not a professional musician, I’m thankful for having been allowed to participate in many occasions of worship-filled beauty. God only knows what the lasting fruit will be for others, but for me, all the effort has been worthwhile.

    • Anita Mathias says

      March 12, 2015 at 7:50 pm

      “Anointing,” what a wonderful word. It’s something I have long prayed for, and deeply desire, so thank you for encouraging me, Don, and thank you too for your kind words about artistry, which is something too I have long desired.
      Thank you for following my blog for so long.
      I am not musical at all, though I love listening to worship music. Participating in many occasions of worship-filled beauty–how lovely!

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anita.mathias

Writer, Blogger, Reader, Mum. Christian. Instaing Oxford, travel, gardens and healthy meals. Oxford English alum. Writing memoir. Lives in Oxford, UK

Instagram post 2185957583540871908_1686032450 Images from our week in Porto.
Both my grandmothers, for as long as I knew them, were homebodies, spending their days in just one or two rooms.
I love travel, and excitement, and living as big and expansive life as I can.
But I too spend several hours every day in a quiet room, reading, writing, thinking, praying... And in the quiet room, one can interact the best thoughts of men and women down the ages, and more with infinity.. God, The sweet Spirit, The Lord Christ. #porto #portugal #travel #novembersun #marriage #marriedlife #beaches #portoribeira #fun
Instagram post 2180132061531496763_1686032450 Images from the Ashmolean Museum’s exhibition in Pompeii, death suddenly arriving in the middle of hectic life. Leaving in its aftermath particularly fertile volcanic soil.
When we become stuck in bitterness, when we recount the same sad story, again and again, in our own minds and to others... we forget that EVERY death has the potential for resurrection.
Have you suffered financial loss, financial injustice, completely untrue slander, deep sadness, failure? I have. Many humans have.
Give it to God. Give it to God of resurrection. Ask him to bring beauty from those sad, dead things.
The soil in the aftermath of a volcanic explosion is particularly fertile.
God can bring new life and beauty from dead things.
He calls out to sad hearts, "Come alive. Come alive!" #pompeii # Ashmolean
Instagram post 2175440736861042753_1686032450 Thoughts on avoiding the holes we habitually fall into, and BELATED images from one of my favourite active holidays https://anitamathias.com/2019/11/11/an-autobiography-in-five-chapters-and-avoiding-habitual-holes/
Instagram post 2156925313647782363_1686032450 I am inspired and moved by the story of Dirk Willems, a hero of the Reformation who lost his life to save his enemy, and have written a little book about him. 
It's on http://Amazon.co.uk  https://amzn.to/2Bk9Shl  and on http://Amazon.com  https://amzn.to/2VQOSYN 
Please do consider reading it & reviewing it. I would be immensely grateful.  Thank you!
Instagram post 2156141167803371501_1686032450 Okay, an unabashed Latergram on our first day in Iceland in Thingvellir National Park. Isn’t it dramatic.  And a short blog  https://anitamathias.com/2019/10/16/on-checking-in-before-you-fly/ #thingvellirnationalpark #iceland #travel #beauty #joy #adventure #life
Instagram post 2148813562469383835_1686032450 Family walks in assorted parks and gardens.  On my new spiritual discipline of Bible-walking, listening to and engaging with Scripture on the hoof.  https://anitamathias.com/2019/10/06/the-spiritual-practice-of-bible-walking/ #walkingandpraying #walkingwiththeword #biblewalking #walkingwiththelord
Instagram post 2134504882437551900_1686032450 I am in New York for a couple of weeks, for my niece Kristina’s wedding. We are having an amazing time, and I have taken a zillion pictures, and it is hot. So here’s a #latergram album from our trip to cool Iceland last month.  I have also blogged on experiencing deep peace in times of political turmoil.
https://anitamathias.com/2019/09/17/deep-peace-in-times-of-political-turmoil/  #iceland  #ringroad #icebergs #glaciers #glaciallagoon #beauty
Instagram post 2118440928208588573_1686032450 I don’t know how to do justice to an amazing trip to Iceland... glacial lagoons, icebergs, glaciers, volcanoes, puffins, seals, geysers, black sand beaches, and these aren’t even my best pictures, but here’s a start.
And here’s a blog https://anitamathias.com/2019/08/25/on-returning-home-to-yourself-and-the-things-you-love-more-than-yourself/ #icebergs #glaciers #glaciallagoon #iceland #travel #love
Instagram post 2076491905235178853_1686032450 So, some architectural delights from our week in Krakow, Poland. Jagellion University, one of Central Europe’s oldest Universities reminded me a little of Oxford.
AND I’ve blogged: https://anitamathias.com/2019/06/26/every-prison-has-a-door-and-we-usually-have-the-key/
#krakow #poland #architecture #delight #jagellonianuniversity
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