i missed the point

   years ago i was blessed to have a lot of time with my father. now and then a topic would come up where i did not understand his comment. on losing much of his hearing he said something like, " i am glad i cannot hear as much as it was sometimes a distraction".  it seemed there were many topics like this as the years went by and his response was always the same," i am glad because…." being younger i thought this foolish to be glad for what you have lost. i much later discovered the fool was not my father.

  here was a man who did not go to church often becuase his family had been split devisivly as to which denomination had the answers, and rather than take sides he took his own path. niether group accepted this or understood it, just as i failed to understand his message and gift to me in his responses.

 many times i have heard someone say that you must have an attitude of gratitude, but few who say this acutually do it. it took me a long time to recognize dad’s "i am glad for" for what it truely was. an attitude of gratitude lived and not just spoken.