Below is a piece that ran in the local paper for a weekly ministerial article to which I contribute. Some family asked me to share it and I do so in the happy memory of my Dad, Larry Huff.
The Indispensable Attitude of Gratitude
The joy of Thanksgiving has been deep
in my soul since a teen-age November on my Grandpa's Kansas farm.
While Grandma, Mom and others prepared a feast in the warm kitchen,
Grandpa fired up the old John Deere and powered a buzz saw with a
long, heavy belt. My Dad and Uncles joined in and we cut limbs for
hours. I loved the work so much it hurt, a deep joy I hoped would
never end, a sense of grasping the immortal for a moment before it is
gone. Those times are the right stuff of life. They feed body and
soul: teach, nurture, strengthen. They remind us why it is good to be
alive, and they keep us going, even on our worst days.
I needed that thirteen years later when
my Dad died the day after Thanksgiving. He had been recovering from a
terrible injury and was due to begin rehab the next week. And then
the call came: “Your Dad suffered a seizure and did not recover. I
am so sorry.” My wife and I embraced and wandered through the mist,
arranging a flight back to Kansas. In those hours my Grandma called,
the one who always had the right words. “I am sure there is nothing
I can say to help you work through these moments.” And she was
right. There were no words. In the midst of hopeful expectation, two
young boys still at home with Mom, one grandchild and another on the
way, my Dad was gone. This was zero-option full stop, the deep pain
of soul known by those who have lost.
And so I reflect on this at
Thanksgiving time and wonder how we navigate life with these
extremes. Joys that make life rich, mixed with pains that can make
one wonder, on the worst days, why we are even here. A simple answer
would not be an answer at all, but we seek answers still. In Peter
Kreeft's winsome book “Making Sense out of Suffering” he wisely
refuses to give answers but instead offers “clues” to this
problem. And so it is true. We make it through with clues,
possibilities, hopes. Such is the nature of faith, an impossible
belief that the impossible, after all, will come to pass.
The remarkable British journalist of a
century past, G. K. Chesterton, offered clues about the whole gamut
of life, and he was often keen to remind us gratitude is
indispensable. “Gratitude,” he said, “being nearly the
greatest of human duties, is also nearly the most difficult.”
Indeed how can we be grateful in the
midst of death, suffering and disappointment? One clue is to remember
life itself is an incomparable gift, something we could never create
and which we should celebrate with feasts and work and laughter. Even
watching – (better to play!) – football helps us celebrate this
gift of life and remember our blessings.
What can you and I do to cultivate this
vital attitude of gratitude? Here are a few things I will try this
year:
- Find someone who feels the ache of loneliness and share a gift and a listening ear. “To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world.” The best gift you have is yourself. When you give you affirm the value of yourself and others, and you say “thank you” to the God who gave us both.
- Dare to celebrate, even with a feast. But don't enjoy gifts and pleasures without gratitude for God who gave them. After all, we do not create them on our own, and thinking we do is it's own painful dead end.
- Say grace before a meal, even if you are not accustomed to it. This simple gesture reminds us our life and livelihood is a gift, and it directs our attention to the Giver, helping us see the world as it really is.
Do you long for the eternal, the joy
for which there is no word, only yearning? I do. And I believe
Thanksgiving offers a window, a reminder that we can know this joy
even in the midst of death and loss. But we can never see the world
aright without this “difficult duty”, gratitude to God who made
life possible. This year I want to learn again to be thankful and
taste the surpassing joy of a grateful heart.
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| One of my favorite pictures of my Dad, ever in my heart. |
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