I’m going way out on a limb here to guess that most of you
have never served as a gatekeeper for a kid’s ski race. The process involves freezing on the side of
a ski slope for hours, munching on granola bars and making sure that the young
racers successfully go through the gates.
Like a lot of volunteer work, it is an important role that isn’t
particularly glamorous.
Towards the end of the competition yesterday, one young racer
skied down to my position. I cringed,
thinking she was there to complain that I had mistakenly disqualified her for
missing a gate. Insecure gatekeepers like myself have nightmares about just
these kind of moments. Instead she
smiled and said, “I just want to thank you for being a gatekeeper today.” Then
she skied off.
There were over 150 kids that raced that day. Many of them awed me with their coordination,
agility, and daring. But she was the one
that impressed me the most. She is the
one I will remember. I have no idea if
she won the race that day, but I have a sneaking suspicion that she will
succeed in life.
Jesus once told a story about healing ten lepers. Of the ten, only one came back to say Thank
You. I’ll bet it made his day, as that
girl made my day. Receiving genuine gratitude tends to do that.
Who would you like to thank today? What spiritual practices increase your
gratitude? And if you have children, what
are you doing to help them express gratitude (other than nudging them at the appropriate moment and whispering “What
do you say?”)?
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