Gratitude

Brave New Family contains an early Chesterton short story, "Homesick at Home" (It's also contained in the collected works).

A man travels around the world to get back home, searching for what he already had.

The story reminded me of an assignment a spiritual advisor gave me.

I tend to be a cynical, sarcastic sort, prone to wallowing in the shadows too much.

So my assignment was to write down at least three things I was grateful for each day. They didn't have to be profound things, just things that brought me a sudden flash of joy.

It hasn't been easy!

Here's a few:

riding my bike

rabbits along the bike trail

dad moving to a rehab unit

a teaching contract for next year

riding the New York-Vermont ferry

White Face Mountain through the mist

a baby at Mass

a man complimenting some things I wrote

fireworks over Mirror Lake

a bat circling me

Gilbert magazine arriving with one of my clerihews in it

gold finches at the bird feeder

rereading To Kill a Mockingbird

birds building a nest outside my father's hospital room

Maybe I don't need to go searching for a "White Farmhouse by the river" after all.