Turning the Key to Happiness

I’ve heard it said that, “The key to happiness is forged from gratitude.” Okay … so, I actually made that one up. But the philosophy behind it comes from years of profound counsel from wise folks like nationally syndicated talk show host (and fellow Crescenta Valley resident), Dennis Prager, who says; “All happy people are grateful. Ungrateful people cannot be happy. We tend to think that being unhappy leads people to complain, but it’s truer to say that complaining leads to people becoming unhappy.”

I also love a quote from G.K. Chesterton: “You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink.”

It is in this spirit, and with your indulgence, that I would like to give thanks for but a few of my many, many blessings (wife, kids, health, home, country and community, included, of course).

I’m thankful for pumpkins and the lengthy menu of fabulous foods that can be made from the goopy, gloppy stuff. At the top of my favorites list is pumpkin pie. After that is ice cream, lattes, muffins, bread, scones and cookies. I’ve heard you can also make pumpkin butter, pudding, yogurt, smoothies, curried pumpkin (huh?) and even something called low-carb pumpkin and sausage soup. Might have to pass on that last one, though.

I’m thankful for college students who come home during breaks in the school year and leave a trail of hurricane-like flotsam and jetsam in every room of the house merely by walking through it. The amount of debris and dirty clothes and half-finished mugs of long-cold coffee and chargers and cables and key fobs that magically appear out of thin air is astounding. And I wouldn’t trade it for all the pristine, Martha-Stewart-like antiseptically clean, neat and sterile rooms in the world. Like I always say, nothing says “home” like clutter. My wife sticks her fingers in both ears and yells, “La-la-la-la-la!” when I say it, but I say it nonetheless.

I’m thankful for the outstanding servers at our many local restaurants. The legendary Lalo at Joselito’s in nearby Montrose, CA, for example, never fails to amaze my wife and me. We can go for months without dining there, and he will not only remember our favorite dishes (no onions in your enchilada, right?), he even teases us about how the restaurant has a surplus of bacon cheeseburgers because one of our sons has been away at college for the past few years. There’s a lot to be said for small-town living.

I’m thankful my formative years took place during the heyday of Hostess Brands. I can envision a time in the not-too-distant future with grandkids at my feet as I sit in rocker and reminisce to their enthralled, upturned faces about the once-common joys of Ding Dongs, Twinkies, Ho Hos and Zingers. A pox on your houses, Bakers & Teamsters unions!

I’m thankful that as of tomorrow I can once again go out to my backyard and unlock the shipping container filled with Christmas music CDs that has been hermetically sealed since last New Year’s Eve. It is indeed, the most musically wonderful time of the year.

Finally, and most importantly, I’m thankful for God’s unceasing grace, His undeserved forgiveness and His unsurpassed gift of eternal redemption made freely available to all who ask in His son's name.

To come full circle, I’ll wrap up with a final thought from Catholic Benedictine monk and interfaith teacher, Brother David Steindl-Rast: “In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.”

With that, I wish you and those you love a happy and thanks-filled holiday. I’ll see you ‘round town.

Bombs Bursting In Airheads

Now that the smoke has cleared from the sky, the backyard BBQs have cooled and the cobs have been de-corned, what do you remember most about this past Monday’s celebration of our country’s birth? The food? The fireworks? The sales? Or simply a day off work? Personally, I won’t forget the cacophony of car alarms triggered with every loud burst from the fireworks high above CVHS. Really, people?

With each 4^th of July observance, I can’t help but be reminded of Jay Leno’s ‘Jaywalking’ segments on the Tonight Show where he interviews random people on the street about various topics. A few times over the years his interviews have posed questions to average Joes about the meaning of our nation’s 4^th of July holiday. “Why do we celebrate the holiday?” he’ll ask, or “Who was George Washington?” Or even “What does Independence Day mean?” Believe it or not, many who walk among us don’t have the slightest idea that the 4^th of July and Independence Day are one and the same. I’ve watched with my mouth agape as Leno asks his subjects what or who we declared our independence from some 235 years ago, only to get blank stares in return. At first it’s funny. Then sad. Finally, it’s frightening.

I’ve seen Leno quiz college students, recent high school grads, parents, young adults, even some people who claim to be public school teachers. Granted, only the most dense and clueless make the show, but the fact that our society seems to be turning out increasing numbers of historically illiterate mouth-breathers is cause for alarm.

The truly despicable thing (in my opinion, at least) is that – as a direct and purposeful result of our left-leaning, multicultural-focused education system – more American students today could likely tell you what Cinco de Mayo is all about then could explain the importance of the Fourth of July. What have we done?

We’ve created a culture that is increasingly blasé and in many cases, apologetically embarrassed about the bright, shining uniqueness of this exceptional country. Even our current President, when asked if he believed in American exceptionalism said yes, he does, “… just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism …” In other words, America is no big deal. Ho hum. When’s my next tee time?

What can we do to reverse this dangerously deliberate dumbing down of our citizenry? I’m so glad you asked.

One of the wisest men alive today, Dennis Prager, is a Southern California resident, prolific author and talk show host with an impressive national radio audience (heard in my media market on KRLA 870AM ). This past week, Prager introduced what may turn out to be a the easiest, most effective way to teach the next generation some of the most important aspects of America’s founding. After years of stressing the importance of ritual and tradition not only in family life, but in the life of our country, Prager has created what he calls a 4^th of July Declaration.

This important new ceremony was patterned after the world’s best known commemoration of a historical event– the Jewish Passover meal, which has been instrumental in keeping alive the memory of the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt for over 3000 years. To participate (and appreciate!) this ceremony, one doesn’t have to be Jewish, Christian or any faith at all. You just have to be an American willing to dedicate less than ten minutes of your holiday to the cause of American community.

Predictably, the ceremony (and its author, for that matter) has been blasted by the left as trite, jingoistic, unnecessary, childish, corny and much worse. Then again, consider the source. A unhappier, more bitter and antagonistic lot has never has so much to say nor so many ways to say it than the left has in today’s digitally supported iComplain culture. 

And yet, the need for just such a ritualistic remembrance is great. As Prager states on his Prager University web site,  “As Americans … we need to rediscover the meaning of our country’s creation. And we need to do it every year. That is the reason for ritual – to enable us to remember. Without ritual, memory fades. And without memory, life – whether of the individual or of a nation – loses meaning.” Amen, sir.

Independence Day 2011 is already history. But I urge you to take a look at what Mr. Prager has created and see if it wouldn’t make next year’s holiday more meaningful, more memorable, and most importantly – more significant than any your family has experienced to date.

I’ll see you ‘round town.

Note: This is a slightly modified version of my column first published yesterday, 7.7.11 in the Crescenta Valley Weekly newspaper (cvweekly.com).

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