“O, give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever.” (Psalm 107:1)
It has recently come to my attention that I frequently get accused of having a good attitude. The physical therapists I had following my knee replacement told me the reason I recovered so quickly was “attitude, attitude, attitude.”
I wondered. Why do I have a good attitude? Am I too stupid to realize how bad things are? I won’t admit to being stupid. So I have a good attitude because it makes sense. When I had cancer, I could have been depressed. But being depressed doesn’t help anyone beat cancer. I made fun of it. I asked the nurses what would happen to a fly if it landed under my radiation beam. I found out. Even if I had died, I would have died laughing.
A good attitude makes sense. But the most important reason I have a good attitude is that I’m tuned in to how loving God has been to me. I consider myself the richest man in the world. (Not that kind of richest, stewardship people.) I’ve been given a wonderful family. A terrific wife. Four great daughters. Three cool sons-in-law. Three unbelievable grandchildren. Even adorable pets.
I’ve been given the most wonderful church I can imagine. A rock-star staff. Hundreds of kind, generous people for me to love. (Incidentally, I recently realized that loving people is more important than being loved. It took me 73 years to figure that out. Maybe I am stupid.)
I’ve been given good health. Some eight surgeries were non-events. My cancers weren’t worth writing home about. Mumps, chicken pox … no big deal. I’ve been given outstanding causes to work on. Juvenile diabetes. Autism. Choir. FAR. Forgotten Harvest. FPC committees. Really outstanding causes.
God has been loving. All I had to do was recognize it. I couldn’t have had anything but a positive attitude.
Prayer: Dear Lord, thank you. If I prayed 24/7, I could never tell you how grateful I am for what you’ve done for me. Please help those who think the glass is half empty to realize that it’s overflowing. Because of you. Amen.
Hal Bay
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