I have always found it so fitting that Grandpa Peale was born on May 31, a time of year when our natural surroundings are bursting with new blooms, lushness, new hope. It is also the time of graduations and celebrations of academic accomplishment, new beginnings, new experiences.
To me, Grandpa Peale’s ministry and mission were (and still are) infused with these same attributes. Through his writing and sermons, he showed us ways to see the goodness and beauty in ourselves, in others and in our surroundings.
Read More: Positive Thoughts from Norman Vincent Peale
He gave us guidance in finding hope during life’s stretches of hardship and bleakness (much like our Northeast winters). He offered ways to begin anew each day with God’s love surrounding us. He also encouraged us to allow an attitude of optimism to blanket us throughout our days, our junctures, our trials.
As I go on my jogs this time of year, I often think of Grandpa’s love of the freshness of late spring, of the sun’s warmth and of the scents of lilacs, peonies and honeysuckle. He deeply appreciated having a home in the country where he could be enveloped by these joyful sensations.
The Peale grandchildren were grateful to spend many of Grandpa Peale’s birthdays with him. He delighted in us and in our joy in a celebration. Not a May 31st goes by for me without a pause filled with gratitude for my Grandpa and for the love he shared with his family and with people the world round.
