Curtis Klingle

Gratitude and Praise

My last column was ran in its entirety, even though my word count was triple of what it was supposed to be. Thank you to the Editor! Scotsmen are supposedly known for their brevity, but apparently my Irish ancestry overrides the Scot in my penmanship.

The feedback received encouraged me to continue in the same vein as my last entry about drug paraphernalia, however, that was not to be. A single word kept coming to mind, that being: gratitude. No matter how hard I tried to force my grey matter onto the same path as the last column, “gratitude” was having none of it. To say that “gratitude kept coming to mind” is something of a misnomer. What was actually taking place was more of an ambush that quickly evolved into a hostage situation. And to add to that, it was as if my initial obstinance evoked a bit of retribution, because “gratitude” seemingly enlisted a friend named “praise” who was as vocal as himself.

There is a note attached to my computer at home with the following admonition by Charles Spurgeon, “Wash your face in a bath of praise every morning.” I experienced what can only be described as an epiphany when I first encountered those words many years ago. I now make every effort to begin my day with praise and gratefulness, and I can assure you; it makes a difference.

Human beings have a proclivity towards negativity and continually entertaining those thoughts can become pernicious. In lieu of that, I was reminded that as we enter the holiday season, each of us should shift our view to things that we are grateful for and those things worthy of our praise. While I’d like to offer an exhaustive list, space (and word count) does not permit, so I thought I’d share the first three things I personally am grateful for in hopes of inspiring you to do the same.

I am grateful for my faith. I pursue Christ daily and anyone that knows me is also well aware that I fail Him daily. You might even find a few that would be all too eager to point out my shortcomings. However, not even they can be as hard on me or more readily point out my mistakes and foibles than myself. Even with these flaws ranging from minor to egregious, I keep at it. To be quite frank, this life wouldn’t be worth living if it wasn’t for His never ending love and patience with me.

Family quickly follows Jesus in my list. I am grateful for the love and encouragement I receive from each of them, but none more so than my children and grandchildren. It is in the eyes of each of them that I find an abundance of joy and happiness. They each encompass the attributes that I always wanted to acquire, and they have become the quintessence of people I admire. I am proud of each of them.

I often tell people that, “God gives you family, so you appreciate your friends more,” and there is a lot of truth in that. We all have family that we don’t really know, in fact, there may even be some we don’t really want to know. But yet, we have friends that are more like intimate family members that we love and trust like blood relation, if not more so. I have many in this category and I am grateful for each and everyone.

It is in these relationships where I find peace and solace in times of need. It is from these loved ones that I receive the love and encouragement to continue to strive for that which is good. The problems we face individually and as a society will still be waiting for us tomorrow, and I think a reprieve is in order. There is even a good chance we may be able to see things a bit differently after a brief hiatus. I hope this writing inspires you to think of the things you are grateful for and those things that are worthy of your praise. The pathway to joy is found there.

C. Klingle