James Hackett’s memories of his life are indeed, precious. The gratitude he has for his family, friends and his life, through all the struggles and sorrows, he has experienced, is a testament to his victory over the flesh, the world and the devil. By accepting his alcoholism and surrendering to God, James Hackett allowed the Holy Spirit of love to transform his life and in that process his gratitude grew for all he had experienced, and especially for the family and friends who had loved him growing up and who do so now. I am convinced that putting God first in one’s own life allows us to love other people properly governed by the truth that they are sacred as we are sacred. The greatest gift anyone can receive is to be loved. The secret to appreciating it and making it a source of goodness for others is to share it with anyone we meet. James has embraced this with all his heart and God has sustained him in the strife with all his might. Gratitude is uplifting, a powerful fruit of love, for love to be everlasting it has to rooted in the moral law of God law. The laws he gave us so we could obey him and experience his love and be saved by that love forever. I encourage people to read James Hackett’s memories and start they own gratitude list which is so essential to a healthy sustainable life of love and purpose.
The key to life is to embrace the fact that most people want and need exactly what you need: Love, acceptance, a sense of purpose that gives daily life meaning and a final goal. For James and many people this begins and ends with the Alpha and Omega, the first cause and last end of all things, Jesus Christ. James Hackett came to believe that the best medicine for our own ailments is to help others. Give and it shall be given onto you says the Lord Jesus. "Give, and there will be gifts for you: a full measure, pressed down, shaken together, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. " Luke, 6:38.
Because James Hackett strives to do this, one day at time, he has received the Holy Spirit and the love of God brings with it many fruits, including gratitude for God, other people, the beauty of nature in the world around us. Gratitude is a fruit of cooperating with God the first lover and the end of all other love. Ultimately, our unique “oneness” of our individual soul only finds rest in cooperating with the generous God who made us and who wants us to be like him in our conduct toward others. James has achieved this and is grateful, a gratitude that bears fruit because he is union with the living waters, God himself. Love is the only thing that lasts forever for ultimately it is God's greatest gift. This book helped me to seek it more earnestly.
John Kinney
Yonkers, New York
