the living by annie dillard

She tried to thank the Lord in earnest for those blessings, so He would perhaps be moved--charmed?--into preserving them.  From her prayers of thanksgiving she rose uncertain, for she suspected herself of superstition more than gratitude, and wondered if she felt her blessings so much as her fears.  Although she held that God gives blessings, she could recall no evidence--in Scripture, sermon or history--that He preserves them, thanked or not.