On gratitude....

This is day one of a 4 day gratitude challenge raised by friend/brother Rick Ahmann.

The first thing on my list is gratitude itself. I am grateful to have discovered, albeit later in life, just how powerful tool gratitude is in being able to create a happy life. Gratitude opens up relationships with God, family, friends and the world based upon appreciation and acceptance. Gratitude, applied, at first, in itty bitty steps can lead a soul out of depression. It smooths rough edges in relationships and gratitude can edge us away from fear and anxiety by helping us focus on what is positive in our lives. Gratitude works.

While gratitude works, however, it does not grow solely out of human consciousness. It is a gift that is measured and expressed through the grace of a loving God who kept His covenant with me even though years passed by in which I was not capable of keeping my part of the bargain with Him. The simple basic foundation of our existence is that God declared, “I will be your God and you will be my people.” We quickly understand that is the summit of Judeo-Christian theology and, for me, the understanding is ultimately comforting. That we have a loving God who has claimed us for himself is the source and wellspring of all gratitude. For that, I am grateful.

My next expression of gratitude should be directed at my wife Lori. We met 41 years ago and this past June we achieved 37 years of marriage. The depth of my gratitude cannot be expressed in a mere sentence of two but rather must be demonstrated through a re-dedication of the rest of my life. The 20 years I spent drifting in an unbounded sea of hopeless and despair would have been the end of me but she kept beacon light burning brightly to help me find my way home. She prayed that I might recover the life I was losing and she never, ever let go of my hand regardless of whether I was holding on or trying to pull away. While I am capable of sailing my ship of life, she has been and will always be my navigator. The good that I do is directly related to her willingness to always be the compass of my life and to help me back on course if I drift off the line to our next port.

Gratitude cannot grow out of obligation because true gratitude must always be freely expressed and freely lived. I learned that from her and that is the greatest gift one human can share with another.

Tomorrow will be day two. There is so much to say! Thank you, Rick Ahmann!