Make me a river of grace, Lord!

The other day I read this statement from a therapist: "We can't diagnose people who are not in the room." Sounds like common sense, but do most therapists pay attention? How many listen to one side of the story and make judgments about the absent person or persons?

I went to someone for grief counseling for about six months several years ago. During the course of our discussions she suggested a diagnosis for a family member I was dealing with. At the time I didn't think anything of it, but after reading the statement above, I thought about it again. Sometimes it's hard to diagnosis the person talking to you. How can you possibly diagnose someone you've never met just by listening to a description from a third party who may be giving you a distorted picture? 

Monday Morning Meanderings

• One of my favorite quotes from Chesterton is about saying grace. I thought of that this morning in the shower while I was praising God for hot water. 

“You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink.”

Heading into Thanksgiving, What Are You Thankful For?

I'm in Book 2 Chapter 10 of the Imitation of Christ. The Chapter title is "On Gratitude for God's Grace." What is grace exactly? The word comes from the Latin gratia meaning "favor, esteem, regard; pleasing quality, good will, gratitude." 

In his Pocket Catholic Dictionary, Fr. John Hardon, S.J. defines grace in the Biblical sense as the "condescension or benevolence (Greek charis) shown by God toward the human race." 

God doesn't owe us a thing. He created us out of his total gratuitous love and wants to shower us with blessings. We don't deserve that love or those blessings, and we owe the One who created us unlimited thanks, honor, and praise for His goodness to us. We can never repay Him. We owe Him thanks for everything. Chesterton put it well when he said we shouldn't only say grace before meals, but grace before the opera and before we open a book or walk or swim.... The grace of God is in everything!

Gratitude: A Great Virtue for Lent and Every Day!

I read an article this morning on gratitude which reminded me of a Chesterton quote. We say grace

before meals to thank God for the food we eat. But here's what Chesterton said:

“You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink.”—G. K. Chesterton

What Kind of Beauty Matters? The Inside or the Outside?

Read about Margaret of Costello who would be a great patron for Lizzie! She's one of my favorite saints. Margaret was born blind, humpbacked, with major physical deformities. She was less blessed than Lizzie whose parents loved her. Margaret's parents took her to a shrine hoping for a miraculous cure and when she wasn't cured they abandoned her in a strange city. Poor girl. She always made excuses for them. What a grace-filled young woman she must have been - like Lizzie. Think about all the "beautiful people" who live lives committed to selfishness and evil. You wonder if there's a picture in the attic showing all their corruption. Then there's Lizzie who, like Mother Teresa, may be lacking in physical beauty, but shines with the light of Christ! May God shower her with blessings and bless everyone who hears her speak.