{"id":62418,"date":"2026-04-13T01:09:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T07:09:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/?p=62418"},"modified":"2026-04-13T01:15:06","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T07:15:06","slug":"to-whom-thanks-belongs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/faith\/to-whom-thanks-belongs\/","title":{"rendered":"To Whom Thanks Belongs"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/picture> Download Print-Friendly Version<\/a><\/p>\n

The first time I really noticed it, I wasn\u2019t in a chapel or a chemistry class or even a quiet moment. I was just thinking about clapping.<\/span><\/p>\n

Picture someone standing in the middle of an empty room, alone, with no music playing, and no performance ending. And they start applauding. Not once, not as a joke, but like it means something.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s wrong, and you know it\u2019s wrong. Not <\/span>morally<\/span><\/i> wrong in the \u201csomeone needs to be punished\u201d sense. More like, wrong in the way a sentence feels wrong when it\u2019s missing a subject. The rhythm might be there, the hands might be moving, but the action is looking for a receiver.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Applause is built for an audience. It\u2019s shaped like a response. Gratitude<\/a> is like that, too.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been thinking about this because of a conversation I had with a friend at school. He is the smart, calm type\u2014and an atheist. He doesn\u2019t believe. Not in a rebellious way, not in a \u201clook at me\u201d way. He just doesn\u2019t see it.<\/span><\/p>\n

I was driving him to campus as we scanned the rows for a parking spot. When we finally saw an open one, my friend laughed and said, \u201cI\u2019m grateful there\u2019s such a good spot.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It was such a small moment that it almost slipped past, but I felt something in me pause. Not because he said \u201cgrateful\u201d\u2014people say that all the time\u2014but because he said it like he meant it. So I asked him, half curious, half teasing, \u201cGrateful to who?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He looked at me like I was insane. \u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI mean,\u201d I said, \u201cyou don\u2019t believe in God. So when you say you\u2019re grateful\u2026 who is that <\/span>for<\/span><\/i>?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He shrugged, \u201cIt\u2019s just\u2026 a feeling, don\u2019t overthink it.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After all, he knows I wish he would become a Christian. And the thing is, I don\u2019t think he was being internally inconsistent when he said he was \u201cgrateful.\u201d I think he was being deeply human.<\/span><\/p>\n

Because even if we pretend otherwise, we all know gratitude has a direction. When we observe the good in the world, good that bends toward us, we feel that gratitude<\/a>, even if we don\u2019t know which direction it should go.<\/span><\/p>\n

We all know gratitude has a direction.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>By gratitude, I don\u2019t mean general happiness, or being in a good mood, or the vague sense that life isn\u2019t terrible today. I mean that specific, tender pressure in your chest when something good lands in your life and you feel, quietly, maybe even unexpectedly, that you didn\u2019t manufacture it.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s the feeling you get when someone holds the door. When your mom texts you at the exact moment you need it. When you pass a test you were sure you failed. When you find the open parking spot after circling like an exhausted shark. <\/span>It\u2019s not just \u201cnice.\u201d It\u2019s receiving something. And receiving automatically raises a question: from where? That question doesn\u2019t always show up as words. Sometimes it\u2019s just a little inward tilt, like your soul is turning its face<\/a> toward something. Sometimes it\u2019s only a breath:<\/span> thank you<\/span><\/i>. Sometimes you don\u2019t even say it out loud, because saying it out loud would make you feel exposed. But you still feel it. That\u2019s what\u2019s interesting to me: how natural it is.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We can be cynical about almost anything, but we still get grateful by accident. We still feel it leak out of us in moments we didn\u2019t plan. My friend didn\u2019t \u201cchoose\u201d gratitude as a philosophical statement. He didn\u2019t sit there and decide, \u201cI will now experience an emotion that implies a giver.\u201d He just felt what a human being feels when a small mercy appears.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you want to argue about God, you can start with the usual categories: cosmology, morality, suffering, science, history. People do. And sometimes those arguments help, and sometimes they just create arguments.<\/span><\/p>\n

But gratitude is different. Gratitude is not a debate tactic. It\u2019s an emotion that shows up uninvited. It\u2019s one of the ways reality touches us from the inside. So what do we do with that?<\/span><\/p>\n

Gratitude does carry a kind of pointed direction to something that I don\u2019t think is accidental.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>
\nOne answer is that we do nothing special. Some people explain gratitude through developmental psychology: we learn it from parents and culture, the way we learn to say \u201cplease\u201d and \u201csorry.\u201d Other people explain it through evolutionary psychology: gratitude strengthens social bonds, motivates reciprocity, and helps communities survive. I can grant both stories\u2014and yet I still think they miss the most stubborn detail: gratitude isn\u2019t merely a pleasant mood. It\u2019s a thank you. It arrives pre-cocked, even if we don\u2019t know its aim. And neither psychological explanation can explain that.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gratitude is not just a social lubricant. It\u2019s not just an \u201cadaptive behavior.\u201d Gratitude has an object built into it. It reaches outward. It points. And when you try to keep it strictly impersonal, you run into what I can only describe as a missing target problem.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s like shooting a basketball without even imagining a hoop you\u2019re aiming for. Your body still knows the ball is supposed to be aimed. Your muscles still commit to a direction. But there\u2019s no place for it to land. Try it. Seriously. Try being intensely grateful and keeping it strictly impersonal. Imagine the thing you are grateful for. Now say: \u201cI\u2019m grateful to\u2026 nobody.\u201d It feels off in the same way applauding to an empty room feels off. The motion exists, the emotion exists, but the relational shape has nowhere to go.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some people solve that discomfort by refusing to feel gratitude at all. They turn it into entitlement, or into a kind of numb self-protection: \u201cI earned everything I have. Nothing was given. Nobody helped. I don\u2019t owe anything.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The other option is to let gratitude be what it is: a signal.<\/span><\/p>\n

When you\u2019re thirsty in the desert, your thirst is not an argument in a debate. It\u2019s not \u201cevidence\u201d in the courtroom sense. It\u2019s a clue about your body and your environment. It suggests you were made for water. It nudges you to look for a source.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gratitude feels like that to me.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s an inward thirst that says, \u201cSomething good happened, and it wasn\u2019t just me.\u201d It doesn\u2019t always tell you the whole story. It doesn\u2019t automatically answer every question about suffering or silence. But it does carry a kind of pointed direction to something that I don\u2019t think is accidental.<\/span><\/p>\n

I’m not saying that if you feel grateful, you secretly believe in God. My friend\u2019s gratitude wasn\u2019t a trapdoor to make him lose an argument. But maybe the better question about gratitude and God isn\u2019t \u201cDoes gratitude prove God?\u201d Maybe the question is: \u201cWhat kind of universe produces creatures who keep wanting to say thank you to someone?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A universe where gratitude is purely accidental is possible, I guess. You could argue it\u2019s just neurons doing neuron things. But then you still have to account for why the feeling is shaped like a response. Why it wants to land somewhere. Why, in our best moments, gratitude doesn\u2019t just make us happy, it makes us humble. Why it makes us want to be gentler. Why it makes us want to share. That moral effect matters.<\/span><\/p>\n

My friend might not have had a name for the \u201cwho\u201d of his gratitude, but he still felt the pull. And I think that pull is one of those small invitations that shows up in ordinary places, parking lots, hallways, and text messages.<\/span><\/p>\n

So what do we do with that? Try this the next time you feel genuine gratitude: don\u2019t rush past it. Don\u2019t immediately turn it into a joke. Don\u2019t file it away as random luck and move on. Pause. Name it: I\u2019m grateful for this. Then, just for five seconds, let it have a direction. If you believe in God, aim it there. If you don\u2019t know where to aim it, use it as an urge to begin looking, thinking. Just one small step.<\/span><\/p>\n

Maybe gratitude is more than a pleasant emotion. Maybe it\u2019s a compass. And even if it doesn\u2019t hand you certainty on a silver platter, it can still tell you something true: that you were made to receive goodness, and be grateful to someone.<\/span><\/p>\n

I can\u2019t prove that with a parking spot. But I\u2019m convinced gratitude is one of the quiet clues that reality is personal at the deepest level. And if that\u2019s true, then the most honest thing we can do with gratitude is not to silence it or flatten it into impersonal randomness, but to follow it.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Even ordinary moments of gratitude denote the existence of Him from whom all blessings flow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":412,"featured_media":62419,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[468],"tags":[1050,583,834,138,115,670,377,318,258,137,182,312,298,303,722],"coauthors":[2133],"class_list":["post-62418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faith","tag-apologetics","tag-atheist","tag-christian","tag-christianity","tag-faith","tag-god","tag-gratitude","tag-human-nature","tag-humility","tag-philosophy","tag-psychology","tag-spirituality","tag-theology","tag-truth","tag-worldviews"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Link Between Gratitude and God - Public Square Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Gratitude and God meet in ordinary moments, where thankfulness is not a mood but a response to goodness received from beyond the self.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/faith\/to-whom-thanks-belongs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Link Between Gratitude and God - Public Square Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Gratitude and God meet in ordinary moments, where thankfulness is not a mood but a response to goodness received from beyond the self.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/faith\/to-whom-thanks-belongs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Public Square Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-13T07:09:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-13T07:15:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Gratitude.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1440\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Caleb Rivas\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Caleb Rivas\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/faith\\\/to-whom-thanks-belongs\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/faith\\\/to-whom-thanks-belongs\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Caleb Rivas\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e7e537480a4c0118389b0366cffd7668\"},\"headline\":\"To Whom Thanks Belongs\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-13T07:09:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-13T07:15:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/faith\\\/to-whom-thanks-belongs\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1539,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/faith\\\/to-whom-thanks-belongs\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/Gratitude.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"apologetics\",\"atheist\",\"Christian\",\"Christianity\",\"Faith\",\"God\",\"gratitude\",\"Human Nature\",\"humility\",\"Philosophy\",\"Psychology\",\"Spirituality\",\"Theology\",\"Truth\",\"Worldviews\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Faith\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/faith\\\/to-whom-thanks-belongs\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/faith\\\/to-whom-thanks-belongs\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/faith\\\/to-whom-thanks-belongs\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Link Between Gratitude and God - Public Square Magazine\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/faith\\\/to-whom-thanks-belongs\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/faith\\\/to-whom-thanks-belongs\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/Gratitude.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-13T07:09:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-13T07:15:06+00:00\",\"description\":\"Gratitude and God meet in ordinary moments, where thankfulness is not a mood but a response to goodness received from beyond the self.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/faith\\\/to-whom-thanks-belongs\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/faith\\\/to-whom-thanks-belongs\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/faith\\\/to-whom-thanks-belongs\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/Gratitude.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/Gratitude.jpg\",\"width\":1440,\"height\":720,\"caption\":\"A family putting away groceries shows an ordinary material blessing connected to gratitude and God.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/faith\\\/to-whom-thanks-belongs\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"To Whom Thanks Belongs\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"Public Square Magazine\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Public Square Magazine\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/Public-Square-Logo-Primary-WHT-Background-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/Public-Square-Logo-Primary-WHT-Background-1.png\",\"width\":2195,\"height\":416,\"caption\":\"Public Square Magazine\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e7e537480a4c0118389b0366cffd7668\",\"name\":\"Caleb Rivas\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/03b7f4abe04a4b9050e8415f355c5244d1151c3ce461f29e4f12f1cd4d2868e5?s=96&d=mm&r=g646b992422b9cd661f84a3822545e3e3\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/03b7f4abe04a4b9050e8415f355c5244d1151c3ce461f29e4f12f1cd4d2868e5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/03b7f4abe04a4b9050e8415f355c5244d1151c3ce461f29e4f12f1cd4d2868e5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Caleb Rivas\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/publicsquaremag.org\\\/author\\\/crivas\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Link Between Gratitude and God - Public Square Magazine","description":"Gratitude and God meet in ordinary moments, where thankfulness is not a mood but a response to goodness received from beyond the self.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/faith\/to-whom-thanks-belongs\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Link Between Gratitude and God - Public Square Magazine","og_description":"Gratitude and God meet in ordinary moments, where thankfulness is not a mood but a response to goodness received from beyond the self.","og_url":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/faith\/to-whom-thanks-belongs\/","og_site_name":"Public Square Magazine","article_published_time":"2026-04-13T07:09:07+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-04-13T07:15:06+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1440,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Gratitude.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Caleb Rivas","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Caleb Rivas","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/faith\/to-whom-thanks-belongs\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/faith\/to-whom-thanks-belongs\/"},"author":{"name":"Caleb Rivas","@id":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/#\/schema\/person\/e7e537480a4c0118389b0366cffd7668"},"headline":"To Whom Thanks Belongs","datePublished":"2026-04-13T07:09:07+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:15:06+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/faith\/to-whom-thanks-belongs\/"},"wordCount":1539,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/faith\/to-whom-thanks-belongs\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Gratitude.jpg","keywords":["apologetics","atheist","Christian","Christianity","Faith","God","gratitude","Human Nature","humility","Philosophy","Psychology","Spirituality","Theology","Truth","Worldviews"],"articleSection":["Faith"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/faith\/to-whom-thanks-belongs\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/faith\/to-whom-thanks-belongs\/","url":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/faith\/to-whom-thanks-belongs\/","name":"The Link Between Gratitude and God - Public Square Magazine","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/faith\/to-whom-thanks-belongs\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/faith\/to-whom-thanks-belongs\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Gratitude.jpg","datePublished":"2026-04-13T07:09:07+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:15:06+00:00","description":"Gratitude and God meet in ordinary moments, where thankfulness is not a mood but a response to goodness received from beyond the self.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/faith\/to-whom-thanks-belongs\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/faith\/to-whom-thanks-belongs\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/faith\/to-whom-thanks-belongs\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Gratitude.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Gratitude.jpg","width":1440,"height":720,"caption":"A family putting away groceries shows an ordinary material blessing connected to gratitude and God."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/faith\/to-whom-thanks-belongs\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"To Whom Thanks Belongs"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/","name":"Public Square Magazine","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/#organization","name":"Public Square Magazine","url":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Public-Square-Logo-Primary-WHT-Background-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Public-Square-Logo-Primary-WHT-Background-1.png","width":2195,"height":416,"caption":"Public Square Magazine"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/#\/schema\/person\/e7e537480a4c0118389b0366cffd7668","name":"Caleb Rivas","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/03b7f4abe04a4b9050e8415f355c5244d1151c3ce461f29e4f12f1cd4d2868e5?s=96&d=mm&r=g646b992422b9cd661f84a3822545e3e3","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/03b7f4abe04a4b9050e8415f355c5244d1151c3ce461f29e4f12f1cd4d2868e5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/03b7f4abe04a4b9050e8415f355c5244d1151c3ce461f29e4f12f1cd4d2868e5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Caleb Rivas"},"url":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/author\/crivas\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Gratitude.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/412"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62418"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62418\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62497,"href":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62418\/revisions\/62497"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62418"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=62418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}