BEING DOUBLE BLESSED

In Kathleen's and my life we have divided our mortal passage into a pre-Colombian life, a Colombian life and a post-Colombian life. A long time ago in the later part of our pre Colombian life I was traveling through the Northern California Sierras while listening to a talk radio show on the car radio. In those days I was mostly influenced by right wing commentators and I soon found myself all caught up in how we were making the same economic decisions which led to the great depression. My mind was completely occupied with all the wrong decisions that those left wingers had made which had brought us to this near calamitous brink of economic destruction. This obviously was a long time before I became a self declared member of the Non-Political Party Party.

I hope you can appreciate the irony of my situation. Here I was driving through some of the most beautiful and scenic country on this planet and my thoughts were completely captured in this self-imposed chasm of doom and despair. One of our five sons was accompanying me on this trip and somehow broke through the dense fog I was engulfed in and re-focused my attention on the beautiful and wondrous scenes just outside of the car's windows. A recent snow storm had left this mountain wonderland with that special Christmas card appearance. It was amazing how my pulse rate slowed and the redness disappeared from my neck as I tuned out the messages blaring from the radio and conversed about the marvelous vistas.

As our conversation dwindled I pondered upon the frailty of our ability to sustain gratitude in our lives. How quickly we could move from appreciation into a mind set that all was out of balance and lost and then back again. I determined that for the rest of this trip with my son that I would try to be influenced by what Heavenly Father had provided and tune out as much as possible the situations which His children had brought about. I felt somewhat saddened that here I was, one who is privileged to live in this land blessed above all lands, to live in a time when my grandparent's wildest fantasies are now our basic needs, to have spent a life time of never feeling the pangs of hunger and in spite of all my blessings, I was all wrapped up in thoughts and ideas which somehow I knew were foreign to my true self and which I knew the eternal me would never find happiness being subdued in.

Now that my son had brought my mind's eye into focus and I was seeing things somewhat more clearly I started to think about things which fall into a category which I later labeled 'being double blessed'.

I am grateful that I have people around me who aid me in being able to concentrate on the really important and beautiful things of life.

I am grateful to live in a day when sharing seldom leaves the giver wanting.

I am grateful to live in a day when the gaining of life's necessities requires such a small portion of my daily moments that I am left with ample time to learn, to think of the meaning of life, and even to complain about the injustices of life.

I am grateful to live in a day when there is time for both the fulfillment of eating by the sweat of the brow and the re creation of mind and body through the leisure activities.

I am grateful to live in a day when I not only have the understanding of those things which must be done, but a day when a whole spectrum of diversity is spread before me to liven and gladden my days if I choose to incorporate them into my life

I am grateful to live in a day when there are many who not only attempt to coexist in their relationships, but who continually strive to deepen the depth of their relationships by striving to increase their degree of tolerance, understanding and love toward others.

I am grateful to live in a day when I am bombarded by the thoughts and ideas of others, but I am free to decide whether to accept or reject those ideas.

As I approach this year's feast of thankfulness I hope that I will be able to remember more often in the coming year to say in my mind loudly, clearly and often; "yes, son, the mountains truly are splendid".