We cannot see the benevolence of God’s will for us because we do not expect benevolence. We expect God’s will for us to be niggardly. We so often see God as a miser, doling out the least possible benefit just to keep us quiet. We do not expect God to be generous. We do not expect God to fill our cup to overflowing. And yet, when we begin to work with prayers of gratitude, this is often the experience that we get: abundance. It is by counting our blessings that we begin to be able to see our blessings. It is by seeing our blessings that we begin to fathom the possibility that God could actually intend for there to be more of them. Gratitude gives us a glimpse of God’s good intentions.
— Julia Cameron, Faith and Will, p. 89