Thankfulness

My wife has a sign hanging on the wall by the kitchen door — “There is always, always, always something to be thankful for.” During this Thanksgiving month, in this contorted and confusing world, I want to hang on to that idea. 

I am thankful for nature that surrounds me every day with sights and sounds, tasks and rewards. I’m grateful that nature gives the miracle of growth and seasons, newness, and decay. Each new exposure rejuvenates my soul.

I am thankful for a working environment filled with like-minded people who share my convictions for changing the world, one person at a time. For those who listen and wonder, who try and fail, who start again and never give up. 

I am thankful for my family — our three daughters, their husbands, and our nine grandchildren. For watching the miracle of growth and maturity, of discovery and challenges, and the sweet aroma of success.

I am thankful for the confusion and passion of politics, the energy of ideas, and our feeble attempts to understand each other’s perspectives. 

I am thankful for a country that is still able to recognize the value of diversity, the strength of inclusion, the comfort of belonging, and the commitment to share equitably.

I am thankful every day for the challenges I confront on Loma Linda University Health’s campuses, for the wonder of human behaviors and reactions, for the interplay between people and activities, backgrounds and interpretations, the push and pull of ideas and concepts.

I am thankful for my dear wife, Judy, whose tolerance for my travels and work hours, delays in fix-it projects, and gentleness of spirit keep me grounded in the basics of love.

I am thankful for my dog Pasha (down to one now), who always welcomes me home, asks how I am doing, and willingly accepts the answer. 

I am thankful to work on a campus full of students with opinions and suggestions, of concerns and complaints, of energy and passion. They keep my cup full and overflowing.

I am thankful for the many global colleagues I know and get to relate to, for their commitment to service, their tolerance for inadequate resources, and their ingrained culture of sharing what they have.

I am thankful for our many Loma Linda University Health donors, their understanding and acceptance of our vision for the future, their commitment to help, and their encouragement to persist and excel that inspires me every day.

I am even thankful for the aging process with the perspective of the years behind me, and the understanding, the memories, and the tolerance it offers.

And finally, I am thankful for a personal God, one whom I know and who knows me. A God who above all is a God of love and acceptance, of compassion and grace.

May I encourage each of you to count your blessings, one by one!

Sincerely,

Richard Hart, MD, DrPH
President
Loma Linda University Health