The Gospel of Happiness by Christopher Kaczor

Author:Christopher Kaczor [Kaczor, Christopher]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Crown Publishing Group
Published: 2015-09-08T00:00:00+00:00

The Gratitude Letter

Another strategy to increase gratitude is to write a gratitude letter. The task is simple. Think about someone in your life who has greatly benefited you and write him a 250-word letter. If possible, visit him and read the letter to him. When I first heard of the gratitude letter, I knew immediately the person I should thank. It was my most important professor from graduate school, and I had just learned that he had been diagnosed with cancer. I sent this gratitude letter to him, and it turned out to be our last communication.

Dear Ralph,

In this month of your retirement, after 53 years as a professor at the University of Notre Dame, I thought that now would be a perfect time to thank you for the many wonderful things you’ve done for me since I first met you in 1992 as a student new to Notre Dame.

I really appreciate that you chose me to be your teaching assistant for your course The Thought of Aquinas, which was—believe it or not—my first course in Thomistic thought. I learned in that class and also in your many books a great deal about the relationship of faith and reason, about language, about ethics, and about God. It was there I first heard the words of the French writer Leon Bloy, “There is only one tragedy in life: not being a saint.”

You also taught me so much by how you treated me. I remember the many times you took me to lunch at the Notre Dame Faculty Club and for Chinese food at the Great Wall. I remember your door being open virtually every afternoon for me and anyone else who had questions or concerns.

Ralph, it goes without saying how grateful I am to you for directing my dissertation. You directed more Notre Dame PhDs than anyone else in history, and I am so fortunate to be able to count myself among them.

Add to that the many invitations to Thomistic Summer Institutes at the University of Notre Dame during so many summers. Add to that the sage advice on many matters, and add to that most importantly your example: scholar, teacher, writer, family man, person of faith. When I think about how I hope to live the rest of my life—you are the model.

Thank you, Ralph, thank you so much.

Love, Chris

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