Celebrating what's right, counting our blessings

What do your eyes see when you go about your day? St. Ignatius of Loyola said God is in everything.

When my daughter was young we played a game each evening to see how many blessings we could count in our day. The Daily Examen, which is part of the Spiritual Exercises developed by St. Ignatius encourage a similar approach. However, sometimes we can grow blind to the beauty in our lives, to the blessings we receive throughout our day.

Pope Francis, in his apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium challenges us to live the joy of the Gospel. “The joy of the gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus. Those who accept his offer of salvation are set free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness and loneliness. With Christ joy is constantly born anew.” (1)

He reminds us also, “The great danger in today’s world, pervaded as it is by consumerism, is the desolation and anguish born of a complacent yet covetous heart, the feverish pursuit of frivolous pleasures, and a blunted conscience. Whenever our interior life becomes caught up in its own interests and concerns, there is no longer room for others, no place for the poor. God’s voice is no longer heard, the quiet joy of his love is no longer felt, and the desire to do good fades. This is a very real danger for believers too. Many fall prey to it, and end up resentful, angry and listless. That is no way to live a dignified and fulfilled life; it is not God’s will for us, nor is it the life in the Spirit which has its source in the heart of the risen Christ.” (EG 2)

Pope Francis writes, “There are Christians whose lives seem like Lent without Easter. I realize of course that joy is not expressed the same way at all times in life, especially at moments of great difficulty. Joy adapts and changes, but it always endures.” (EG 6)

“Sometimes we are tempted to find excuses and complain, acting as if we could only be happy if a thousand conditions were met.” (EG 7).

As we rise to the pope’s challenge as Easter people, I say we could each count 1,000 plus
blessings daily. At the top of my list are the people in my life, family, friends, coworkers, and others I meet. Add to that an awe for the innumerable gifts of beauty nature gives us. I find I need frequent doses of the outdoors to reenergize. It’s also a good way to slow down and take notice of what we might miss in our rush. For me each gardenia blooming outside my kitchen window, the salmon-colored bougainvilleas, the lizards scurrying on the window screens, are simple surprises I appreciate.

Our lists keep growing the more we take notice. From people and nature’s wonders to our health and the gifts we have each been given by the Holy Spirit to serve.

Yes, life is messy; we can’t ignore the realities of manmade disasters and those from Mother Nature. We can be blindsided, tempted into cynicism from all the pain and suffering in the world.

If we get caught in the undercurrent of negativity, we run the risk of becoming paralyzed and avoid finding ways to make a difference in the world. Dewitt Jones, a freelance photographer for National Geographic has a film titled “Celebrate What’s Right with the World” and now a workshop. “Celebrating what’s right” he said, “helps us recognize the possibilities and find solutions for many of the challenges before us.”

“By celebrating what’s right we find the energy to fix what’s wrong,” he said. In his approach, Dewitt notes, “To celebrate what’s right in the world means: believe it and you’ll see it; recognize abundance; look for possibilities; unleash your energy to fix what’s wrong; ride the changes; take yourself to the edge; be your best for the world.”

In this ever changing world and its varied moments of highs and lows, let us celebrate what’s right, counting each blessing. Social media sites make use of hashtags to link related subject matters and challenges are often issued to share moments of our lives. Wouldn’t it be nice to see a stream of posts utilizing some of the following hashtags #CountingMyBlessings, #LifeIsGood, #CelebratingWhat’sRight.

Let’s start counting.

(Originally published in October 2016 edition of The Valley Catholic newspaper) 

Our never-ending quest for balance

Sitting in a hospital waiting room, we worry, we pray, we try to find distractions; we have time to think, and ultimately our own health and the state of balance in our lives is called into question. 

It is unfortunate a health scare or crisis jolts us into a personal check up on the state of our own lives, and this never-ending quest for balance especially given our tendency to rush from one appointment or task to the next.

In my case, I see it as a quest for the grace to be present in the moment before us with the peace of mind trusting Christ is always at our side. When a loved one is in the hospital, it reminds us life is a gift we must honor.

While my brother and I waited for my father, I observed other families waiting. Everyone put work and other responsibilities aside and were present for each other, present in the moment. Not the best of times, when a loved one is undergoing surgery, but a testament to the power of family coming together to support one another. I can see how these moments contribute to strengthening the bond within a family and I think too, to the healing process of a loved one.

Pope Francis continually reminds us, “The Gospel, radiant with the glory of Christ’s cross, constantly reminds us to rejoice.” But how can we find joy if we are busy with our task-oriented days, caught up in anticipating what comes next? Bishop Daniel E. Flores said, “Sometimes we miss Lent because we’re waiting for Easter.” “Los concentramos en lo que anticipamos (We concentrate on what we anticipate).”

He said, “The Lord wants to teach us that we have to appreciate every moment for what it means. Sometimes we miss the meaning of the moment we’re living, because we’re waiting for the moment that’s going to happen.”

Not only do we miss the moment, we get dizzy in the whirlpool of overwork. Thomas Merton wrote about what he referred to as a modern violence – “activism and overwork.” The word violence startled me. It made me stop to consider the implications.

Merton said, “There is a pervasive form of modern violence to which the idealist...most easily succumbs: activism and over-work. The rush and pressure of modern life are a form, perhaps the most common form, of its innate violence. To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything is to succumb to violence.

The frenzy of the activist neutralizes his (or her) work... It destroys the fruitfulness of his (or her)...work, because it kills the root of inner wisdom which makes work fruitful.”

How many of us are guilty of multitasking? Research studies indicate multitasking is not healthy or productive, and can even lower IQ.

Pope Francis in his Apostolic Exhortation, “Evengelii Gaudium” (“The Joy of the Gospel”), writes, “The  problem  is  not  always  an  excess  of  activity,  but  rather  activity  undertaken  badly, without adequate motivation, without a spirituality  which  would  permeate  it  and  make  it  pleasurable. As  a  result,  work  becomes  more  tiring than  necessary,  even  leading  at  times  to  illness. Far from a content and happy tiredness, this is a tense, burdensome, dissatisfying and, in the end, unbearable fatigue.”

So in this never-ending quest to find balance and celebrate the joys in our lives, what steps can we take? The answers are not a mystery – Mass, the Eucharist, prayer, solitude. The challenge is making time for each. As we refocus our energy, we learn to value the moment before us, we value each encounter with one another. 

I find St. Ignatius of Loyola’s Daily Examen helpful to this end. The exercise helps us find God in all things. We can’t do this if we are rushing from project to project, event to event, from phone calls to emails and texts. We don’t even enjoy a sit-down meal sometimes, opting instead to rush through the nearest drive-through restaurant for a fast-food selection.

As we examine the desolations and consolations in our day, we can determine where we need to make adjustments. Hopefully we can do this before a crisis strikes and forces us to make such adjustments.

Pope Francis notes, “What is needed is the ability to cultivate an interior space which can give a Christian meaning to commitment and activity. Without prolonged moments of adoration, of prayerful encounter with the word, of sincere conversation with the Lord, our work easily becomes meaningless; we lose energy as a result of weariness and difficulties, and our fervor dies out. The Church urgently needs the deep breath of prayer…” (262, Evengelii Gaudium)

Just as fasting and detoxification helps remove toxins from our body, we need to find ways to detox ourselves from our overburdened schedules. We need to find time for prayer. Sometimes letting go of the excesses in our day, makes room for what’s important. Less is better than more. As Henry David Thoreau wrote, “I make myself rich, by making my wants few.” I add to this, I make myself rich by slowing the pace and letting God take the lead.  

If we don’t take the necessary steps, we will likely find ourselves forced to take them. As I write this, my father remains in a long-term acute care hospital in ICU, unaware of the complications that transpired after his tumor was removed on April 9. Our family is coming to terms with the shock, and learning just how precious life is.

(Originally published in June 2015 edition of The Valley Catholic newspaper)