"Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others."
~ Cicero
~ Cicero
Tonight I find myself transported back to those days in school when I didn't want to put down a book I was enjoying, yet had homework to finish. Back then, usually the book won (and sleep lost since I ended up staying up into the night to finish my homework!).
As the hour gets ever later, I'm called back to immerse myself in the wonderful, heartfelt book Gratitude and Beyond by Dr. Allan Hunter.
My nightly homework now is of course this blog, due at Midnight, and since I'm the master of its content, I'm going to make it a bit easier on myself tonight. (I have a book to read.)
A few nights ago, I mentioned resurfacing some poems from my youth. It just so happens I wrote one entitled...
Gratitude
What wonders can one person
wield in the life of another.
Unfathomable loneliness
can be vanquished in an instant
with the sting of attentive arrow.
Drudgery is easily put to death
by swing of sympathetic sword.
Melancholy moods can live no more
where marches the army of compassion.
And dreary thoughts dwindle
from lack of nourishment
when besieged by a host of happiness.
What honors have I to bestow upon
the perpetrator of these heroic deeds?
I have not titles or crowns to grant;
No medals or plaques have I.
What trophy could warrant
the feats you've accomplished?
What coinage could pay their price?
No, none of these things would
suffice for reward.
I have only to give you my gratitude.
~ Susan Larison, 1981
P. S. I feel this poem is as relevant today as the day I wrote it, as if speaking across time, straight from the heart.
If you missed The Frontier Beyond Fear episodes with Dr. Allan Hunter, much like his books, they are well worth spending time with, even late into the night...
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| Dr. Allan Hunter |
And tomorrow live at 12 Noon Pacific / 3 PM Eastern, I have another special returning guest coming on the show, Dr. Robert Forman, author of Enlightenment Ain't What It's Cracked Up To Be.
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| Dr. Robert Forman |
