dual personalities

Once again, I relate to Calvin’s father. My favorite refrain (then and now) is, “Put on a sweater if you are cold!” …also “and it builds character!”–but that’s another story…Well, anyway, we turned on the heat in our house, because it is, after all, November. November!

In November we like to try to be more intentionally grateful, so here’s a quote from a book by one of my favorite authors.

“What was the world coming to and what hearty pleasures folks today missed out of life! One bag of meal her pap said, used to make a whole family rejoice. Now folks came ungrateful from the store, grumbling they had to carry such a heavy market basket. Was that the way this great new country of hers was going to go? The easier they made life, the weaker and sicker the race had to get? Once a majority of the men got weak and soft, what weak, harmful ways would they vote the country into then? Well, her pap’s generation could get down on their knees and thank the Almighty they lived and died when they did. How would they ever have come and settled this wild country if they said to each other, “Ain’t you afeard?” How would her pappy have fetched them the long way out here on foot if he’d kept asking all the time, “Are you all right! How do ye feel? Do ye reckon ye kin make it?” No, those old time folks she knew were scared of nothing, or if they were, they didn’t say so. They knew they ran bad risks moving into Indian country, but they had to die some time. They might as well live as they pleased and let others bury them when the time came. Now Libby’s generation, it seemed, lived mostly to study and fret about ailing and dying.”

―Conrad Richter, Sayward in The Town

My children would no doubt agree that this sounds like me as well. One could argue that the abundance of things we have has made us ungrateful. That is sad. We take things for granted when we should be grateful.  So look around and be grateful. Count your blessings.

When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed

When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,

Count your many blessings name them one by one

Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.

-Johnson Oatman, Jr. (1856-1922)

*Irving Berlin/image of sampler from Etsy