January 20, 2023
Dear Friends,
I love quotes that are taken out of context. In the day and age of the meme, I feel it happens more often than not. You just have something randomly attributed to a famous person, but you may not know what they were referencing. As he is talking about living his life with Parkinson’s, Michael J. Fox was talking about death, and not fearing it. The interview/conversation continues with this amazing quote “and if you don’t think you have anything to be grateful for, keep looking. Because you don’t just receive optimism. You can’t wait for things to be great and then be grateful for that. You’ve got to behave in a way that promotes that.”
How often do we just think about the here and now, without actually thinking about the past or future? How often when we need something do we turn to God in prayer in that moment and get annoyed or frustrated when things don’t necessarily go according to plan? I know I have touched on faith before. I know that I have touched on gratitude as well. The quote from Michael touches on something I have said in the past. When it comes to prayer and our relationship with God, there needs to be a foundation. If we are not engaged or active in our relationship with God, when we need Him, we tend to miss His presence in our lives.
By now, I think we realize that our lives do not always go according to plan. However, if we are open to God’s plan in our lives, we might see something that we would have otherwise missed. God does not always reach out to us in amazing ways, He does not send the answer to our prayers floating down on a balloon telling us what to do. We need to realize in those moments that there are people in our lives that God put there to help us through our troubles. The random phone call from a friend. The kindness of a stranger. The right person at the right time. These are ways that He is reaching out to us, and we are not even aware of it.
This is where both faith and gratitude come into play. If we have a relationship with God, we will see His actions in our daily lives because we are attuned to His presence in our lives. The gratitude is obviously taking the time to thank Him for all that has been done for us. More than that, look for the ways in which we are open to both the good and bad that happens in our lives. It is not easy when the bad happens, but still being able to have that faith will see us through. Each day could be a challenge but keep looking for the good and let your faith sustain on those days.
God Bless,
Fr. Brian
P.S. Sometimes the lack of a pun, is just as punishing.