This is *stunningly* written.
I have also asked this question and I've gotten a similar answer that, put into the context of this post, somehow becomes even more beautiful.
Not gratitude for the transactional things. That's a separate discussion. I mean that kind of gratitude you have for simple things like a breeze on a warm day. The breeze isn't blowing for you. It would blow even if you weren't standing there. The breeze just is, and you're happy to be standing where you are. The breeze felt good on your skin and you're grateful to have experienced it. It doesn't matter to you that you weren't the only one who felt the breeze. It doesn't matter to you that the breeze will blow again when you're not outside.
You're just grateful for that moment, that experience.
You'll be grateful the next time you experience it, too.
When the sun peeks out from behind the clouds on a cold day and warms your skin, you'll be grateful. Not because the sun is shining for you, but just because it shines.
How does this relate to why the gods want a relationship with us?
Imagine you are the breeze. As you pass, you see a wave of smiles and relieved eyes. You were going where you were going anyway, you weren't blowing for those people. It's just in your nature to sweep along the face of the Earth. But wait, all these people were made happy by just... doing what you were already doing? They're appreciating you for what you are and what you do. You could really get used to that. Their presence, their spread arms and closed eyes, are a welcome alternative to unreactive nothing. For that, you are grateful.
Maybe that's transactional, but only incidentally. Sometimes to just love and be loved is enough. Sometimes a passing acknowledgment that your presence, your most raw self, is appreciated just for having moved along its natural trajectory is enough.
I am sure that someone might view this as 'Well, you only appreciate the breeze while it's blowing or the sun while it's shining. Otherwise, you don't give them any thought at all.'
All I can say to that, friend, is that you and I must have a fundamental difference. I think about breezes and sunshine and ocean waves and clouds and growing trees every day. How grateful I am that they continue to do it, even when I'm not experiencing their gifts. I love them and appreciate them just for being.