What's Your Glory?

Last weekend, on television, a movie was on that is based on one of Mitch Albom's books, Have A Little Faith.  The movie, though based on a book, is based on a true story of Mitch Albom and his coming to terms not only with his faith but with the fact that people can change. 

During the movie, and I presume the book, Mitch is asked to do a favor for his former rabbi.  The rabbi asks Mitch to write and deliver the eulogy at his funeral - which turns out to be eight years after the initial asking.  Later, Mitch meets a pastor, named Henry, who, we learn through flashbacks, was a drug dealer and did anything he could for money, including armed robbery.  And though he was convicted of manslaughter, the story informs the audience that a former friend actually committed the crime.

Though raised Jewish, Mitch is married to a Christian, and neither of them have enough faith to attend services.  That's not to say that they don't believe - they do - but for the basis of the story, let's just say that they weren't consistent in their beliefs.

But I'm getting away from the topic of this blog post.  Let's go back to the title.  I got it from this movie.  The rabbi, Albert Lewis, wrote a book (and I checked it on Amazon.com) in 1984.  The title of the book, What's Your Glory.  As the rabbi in the movie explained, it's a collection of thoughts and told Mitch that his own glory was to be a rabbi and shepherd to his flock (granted, it was in different words, but that's the explanation that I took from his talk).  The rabbi asked Mitch what his own glory was and Mitch couldn't answer - not until the end, anyway.

After I heard the question, I decided that I had to write about it.  So, what is my glory?

It took me a couple of days to really think about it and I'm not sure why, since my glory is right in front of me every single day.  For me, my glory is being a dad to Abigail.  The more I teach her, the better a child she'll be.  The more I show her a good example, the more she'll be willing to help others in the future.

My glory also lies in being a husband.  The better husband I am, the more love that Joanna will show for me.  It will also give Abigail an example of what marriage and love should be, hopefully steering her away from bad relationships.

And yet, my glory doesn't end there.  I am also a son, a brother and a friend.  Each of my family members knows how much I care about them and that I'm willing to do anything for them.  My close friends are basically family and are treated the same way.  My family and friends are very important to me and even if I haven't told them in awhile, they should know just how much they mean to my life.

That's a lot of things that I think are my glory, but there is still one more.  I feel that my gift of telling stories and writing is one of my other glories.  I continue to write, whether it is this blog or my novels or short stories, because I enjoy writing and, hopefully, there are people that enjoy reading what I write.  And even if I don't get a novel published, I know that there are enough people that like my stories and, as I've recently learned, that's really all that matters.

So, what's your glory?



Until next time.