One of the ways I “carry on” is to go to the mountains to be of service to my beloved, elderly parents. This usually gives me an abundant FEELING of gratitude, but even when it doesn’t, I have to remember that service is not really about the FEELING I get from it and it’s certainly not about ME. It’s about DOING something that helps others, and it’s about GIVING of myself, even if I don’t FEEL like it.
My father had a major heart attack in 2008, which left him with only ¼ use of his heart – the other ¾ is dead ... gone.
One day, he and I were cleaning the gutters on the house. He worked from his lawn chair with a bucket of Clorox water and brush cleaning gutter guards, and I stood on the ladder flushing and cleaning the gutters.
When we finished, he relaxed in a chair on the porch in the sun and fall leaves. He looked up at me with those beautiful blue eyes and said “It makes my heart feel good to have you here working with me – it really does – it makes my heart feel good. I’ve worked so hard all my life and done so many things all by myself…”
WOW! A feeling of G-R-A-T-I-T-U-D-E washed over me. If I died tomorrow, I couldn’t have been given a better gift. I thanked my Dad for his words. The fact that I had done something to make my Dad’s heart feel good… It was a gift of life – from God – forged through us and our work together. It was a gift of peace.
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