Faithful Lines / Shirley Vogler Meister

A pleasant beginning for each new day

Looking for some inspiration in life? This idea is free, and the Web site is “secured” and one that I realize many readers do not have on their radar.

Most of us delight in getting good news. Pondering this, I realized that friends and family members who are most receptive to good news are faith-filled people with optimistic tendencies.

One morning, I received an e-mail that technically should not have come through since my e-mail address had been changed. That it appeared on my screen was good news in itself because that is how I happily discovered Gimundo.

Gimundo (pronounced ji-mun-doe) is an original word, meaning “a place of inspiration, hope and goodness; a better world.”

The co-founders are Chris Case and Keith Cohn. They began Gimundo because of “some kind of epiphany.”

They discovered that “you get to a certain point in life, you get a little older, you have a few kids, and you start to question things a little more. If you’re paying attention at all, you have to be a little concerned about the culture. If the kids are in the room when negative news is on, you want to hit the mute button so bad you dive on the remote like it’s a live grenade.”

Like most of us, they found themselves at a crossroads. “Although we’ve had some success,” they explained on their Web site, “we’re trying to figure out what to do next.”

As many of us do, they realized that good things are also happening in the world and there’s much for which to be thankful. So they created an e-mail newsletter that celebrates positive events and human achievement.

After exploring the Gimundo Web site for samples of the good things reported there, I now receive ongoing good news on a regular basis at no cost. Readers interested in doing the same can log on to the site at www.gimundo.com.

There you will also find the background on the founders that impressed me. Somewhere I learned that “you are what you read.” Gimundo is on the right track.

I was also impressed by Gimundo’s launching of a “Journal of Gratitude.” Anyone can participate by going to the Web site, entering your first name and briefly sharing what makes you grateful.

Children, family and friends are common themes, but other topics include playing the guitar, smiles and laughter, even cappuccino—and the husband who prepares it for his wife.

One woman is thankful for how thankful her husband is for her!

Gimundo’s founders are hoping to have 1 million expressions of gratitude shared by Thanksgiving.

Next week, I will share a few of the Gimundo reports that have touched my heart.

We who believe in the Good News of Jesus Christ surely welcome all the good news that comes our way.

Obviously, that is why we read The Criterion, too.

(Shirley Vogler Meister, a member of Christ the King Parish in Indianapolis, is a regular columnist for The Criterion.) †