A "tude" is condition, state, or quality according to the dictionary definition of the suffix.

Our problem is not with the suffixes of our lives. We may not be able to fix them, but we can certainly pre-fix them and thus, redefine and reorient them into something positive and productive.

If you are interested in the vartieties of tudes one might exude, brood over this list.

A sample would include: aptitude, attitude, and altitude, three of my favorites (which make a nice speech or sermon).

One would also be imbued with: magnitude, quietude, vicissitude, and terpitude.

But today, I propose a servitude to gratitude, that one tude that colors our view of our world and informs our thinking about most everything.

Gratitude lifts us as it lifts others out of chance and circumstance and into a higher place of purpose and grace.

We are a people blessed by God. Let us live, not in our conditions, but let us condition ourselves by cultivating the state and quality of thankfulness in every circumstance. Let us prefix that tude to every thought, word, and deed.