GRATITUDE

In a previous post, I wrote about my transitional journey to more fully embrace the idea of grace.  It is a gift freely given which I partake of each day.  I now wish to write about another idea that likewise fills my heart with joy and happiness: gratitude.

GRATITUDE:  a feeling that comes as recognition of one’s blessed state.  Not necessarily a definition from Daniel Webster, but it is how I define it.  It is a concept—a character trait that I have been familiar with and that God bestowed upon me at an early age.  Perhaps it has to do with the tender heart that God gave me.  Perhaps it has to do with not having great wealth either in my childhood or as an adult.  Perhaps it has to do with observing the poverty of the world, or even those around whom I have worked or lived by.  Perhaps it has to do with seeing people with poor health while I have had very good health.  Perhaps it has to do with living abroad and keeping informed of the legion problems in other countries.  Whatever the reasons, God has helped me to observe the world around me, and I recognize and am amazed by my good fortune.

 I have a nephew whom I greatly admire and who has helped me (unknowingly) to realize just how blessed I am.   He has a birth defect which precludes him from taking his arms, palms down, and rotating them so his palms face up.  For his part, he has taken this misfortune as a challenge and has learned how to play the piano (palms down, obviously), play the trombone (palms facing one another—but no further rotation), and play lacrosse (again, palms facing one another).  I’m sure that he has learned to do other tasks of which I am not aware in spite of his disability.  I really admire his grit and dedication, not allowing this lemon to sour his life.  He will be a success at whatever he puts his mind to do. 

Because of his disability, I no longer take for granted my ability to rotate my palms.  In fact, my realization that not everyone can rotate their arms has helped me to recognize that there are many, many health issues that I take for granted.  Each day when I pray or meditate on my life, I will rotate my palms—something my nephew can’t do—to express my gratitude to God for all of the physical blessings, thought of or taken for granted, that I have been given. 

In a recent post, Sensing the Past, I wrote about my senses.  I learned at a very young age that not everyone possesses all of the five senses.  Perhaps because I started wearing glasses at age 5 and was told that a sharp blow to the head could detach my retinas, rendering me blind, I have never assumed that I would be able to see indefinitely.  Sometimes, I will methodically go through a ritual of “sensing” all five of my senses to express gratitude for them.  My hearing and my music is one of the most important senses I cherish.

I also look at my wife, my kids, my extended family, my sound mind, my senses, my knowledge of important truths, my friends, my mentors, my country, my employment, my privilege, my talents, my upbringing, indeed, my life, and I feel compelled to express profound gratitude each day for it all.