Saturday, March 16, 2013

Gifts Overflowing

Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
                                                      St. Paul's Letter to the Philippians 4:8


The Riches and the Spoils, Janet Hill


I'm puzzled by people who are easily bored.  They must be blind and deaf to the blessings that surround them.  Over the past week I have taken stock of all of the wonderful and fascinating gifts that fill my life.

First of all (literally) there is God who loves me and is the source of all blessings.

Following from that is my Christian faith.  I was blessed with a Christian upbringing.  Yet, I wandered far afield at times in my life.  I can't say that I was ever an outright atheist, but I seriously doubted for a time.  What's even worse, I think, is the period in my life when I was simply indifferent to God.  But thanks to the grace of God I returned to the Faith - in fact I returned all the way home to the Catholic Church.  The Church has answered all of the spiritual longings and questions that I had. 

In this age of the lovelorn constantly searching for Mr. or Mrs. Right, I found a fabulous wife.  She's a woman who loves me for who I am, is more patient than I deserve, is a wonderful mother to our two children and someone with whom I can grow old with.

I just mentioned our two children.  They are so full of energy and enthusiasm.  They have quick and curious minds.  They love to play and create and sing and not a day goes by that they don't make me smile and laugh.  Children are the source of eternal youth.

My job as an 'English as a Foreign Language' teacher is a rewarding challenge.  Being an American teaching in Poland puts me in the unique position as an outsider being granted glimpses inside another culture.  Most of my students are children and teenagers, but among my adult students there have been doctors, teachers, business people, bankers, engineers, etc.  They have told me firsthand accounts of life inside their professions that I otherwise might never have heard.

Young Fishermen, Vladimir Gusev

Then there are all my many interests.  I guess I'm blessed with a kind hyper curiosity and I'm grateful for the many things that interest me.  I enjoy the change of seasons.  I like plants and gardens.  I like to observe the trees, birds and other wildlife in all the various places I've lived.  I wish I had more time to develop my interest in fishing.  Sports thrill me - especially baseball and football.  Over the years I've accumulated CDs from across the music genres.  My bookshelves hold books from at least a dozen genres.  I love beautiful paintings and other art. 

And the internet!  What a wonderful source of riches that is!  In just the last couple months alone I've discovered the following: Fr. Robert Barron's wordonfire.org (check out his video commentaries on movies, pop culture, books and theology as well as his insightful weekly sermons), NFL Films' America's Game series on youtube.com which are 45-minute documentaries on NFL teams' championship seasons (the ups and downs and personal dramas that occur during a football season - extremely well made and fascinating), over 11,000 free ebook titles on bookdepository.co.uk, and numerous interviews on youtube with the likes of Jimmy Stewart, Sister Wendy Beckett and William F. Buckley that had me glued to my chair, and on and on.

So unless you're locked up in solitary confinement, how on earth can you be bored?

* * * * *
 
To the Cynic
 
The miracle of being that makes the hills to sing
And stones to laugh in sparkling brooks and bells to ring;
The dignity inherent in each God-kissed thing:
The speckled trout, the maple leaf, the finch's wing
Lie in your dark and frozen heart ignored, unsung.
Stick your nose in dung heaps and all you'll smell is dung.
 
 
The Library, Felix Vallotton
 

 
 

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