Month: May 2018

The other day something came to mind that I hadn’t remembered for many years. My first job after graduating from college was teaching at a middle school. One of my students was expressing frustration with another student who had called herself “lucky” because something positive had happened to her. The student who was frustrated told the other student that people are not lucky when positive things happen, but instead they are blessed; that God causes good things to happen and those good things are blessings. The first student argued that it didn’t matter which word she used and she would use the word she wanted to. It was hard for the frustrated student to let it go. She felt so strongly about it she kept trying to convince the other student to change her way of thinking.

Remembering witnessing this interaction between the students reminds me of how each of us is on our own journey. And along the way each of us has been and continues to be influenced by other people and experiences. I remember the student who felt adamant about using the word blessed rather than lucky had parents who talked openly about their religious faith. It’s likely that her parents emphasized to her and her siblings the difference between being blessed and being lucky and naturally she was influenced by them. Some people would say it’s semantics. Some people would say when they say lucky, they believe luck is a gift from God. Some people would say they don’t believe in a higher power but they have times when they feel lucky. And so on.

We’re all on our journeys. What matters is that we change and grow along the way.

I like the simplicity and beauty of this prayer:

Day by day,
Day by day,
Lord, Dear Lord, three things I pray:
To see thee more clearly,
Love thee more dearly,
Follow thee more nearly,
Day by day.

The melody of the song that was created with the words of this prayer has been “playing in my head” recently–a prompting perhaps to write about it in my blog.

The words “day by day” remind me both that each day of our lives matters and also that how we choose to live each day matters. The choices we make, the actions we do, how we spend the time we are given. The words “To see thee more clearly” bring to mind the idea of hearing our inner voice that guides us–sometimes it is clearer than at other times. It is important that we strive to hear it because in doing so we will “see more clearly” what we are to do.

When we love our Lord more dearly, we become more able to love other people and to show that love through our interactions with them. We also become more able to love ourselves. To “follow thee more nearly” makes me think about trying to follow the teachings and examples of Christ and also about the Jungian idea of becoming more conscious which is what makes it possible for us to be more the person we were created to be.

I respect Mahatma Gandhi because he lived what he said. One of the things he said is “You may never know what results come of your actions, but if you do nothing, there will be no results.” I sometimes become disheartened when I read news stories about people who suffer because of other people’s injustice, violence, and greed. And I question whether there really is anything I can do to help. Thankfully, I have the belief that no matter how much is wrong in the world there is also a great deal that is right. There are many instances where there is justice and nonviolence, and where much is being done to benefit others.

Sometimes it works out that we see the positive results of something we have done and that, of course, is a special experience. It’s important when that happens that we keep in mind our ability to do whatever positive thing we did was a gift and to have a humble and thankful attitude about it.

But what I especially like about Gandhi’s words is that what we do matters whether we have the opportunity to see the results or not. What matters is that we make the effort, that we give of ourselves because we care. What matters is that we keep in mind that doing nothing is the wrong choice.