One day a kind man planned a great feast. Among the revelers attending was one who frequented these generously prepared celebrations. Years of partying had left there mark on this guest who started to complain about the rich food and the boring banquet hall. "If this keeps up," he said to his host, "I will stop coming to these events."
The term "ingrate" comes to mind. I have lived long enough and with enough good fortune and friends to feel a great deal of gratitude. Greatfull is the word.
I was the tenth child in my parent's family, and I note with a sense of security that they had six more children after me. Mom and Dad were blessed and grateful people. They did not say at any point, "This is too much!"
Have you been alive long enough to be truly grateful? The very gift of life fills us with awe. Life, perception and eternity versus - nothing? A void.
One of the ironies of broken marriages is that the couples, in some cases, have been together long enough that they should be filled with a deep sense of gratitude for the gift of each other. Forever grateful should replace temporary wants.
The words of a love song come to mind:
I will know deep in my heart,
The only dream that mattered had come true
...In this life I was loved by you. (Bette Midler)
The 1946 movie It's a Wonderful Life, based on the short story "The Greatest Gift" by Philip Van Doren Stern, is reminiscent of the great literature of Thornton Wilder's Our Town. Drama touches the heart on basic questions about temporal and eternal realities.
George Bailey, played by James Stewart, deeply troubled and contemplating suicide, pronounces that he wishes he had never been born. The prayers of his family and friends reach heaven.
An angel sets out to save George and makes true his wish about never being born. In this confusing reality change, George sees how different the world would be if he had never touched the lives of his family, friends and neighbours.
For example, a war hero who saves his men and is awarded a medal does not exist because George was not there to save him from drowning in childhood. So the men die. Small and large, our impact on those around us is profound.
Another example is George's wife who ends up a spinster librarian. Their wonderful family does not exist. Then there is George's business venture the Building and Loan that is endangered when $8,000 gets misplaced. Well, it's a wonderful story which I don't want to spoil.
In the end the angel that saved George gets his wings, and George goes back to his wonderful life. Truth and value survive and are as simply defined as black and white, like this movie, which came out in 1946 and still survives today.
And you and I, after drying our tears, are left with a deep gratitude for life, family, love and spiritual truths.
