The Smart person accepts, the Idiot Insists

You really need to do yourself a favor and read online Michael Lewis article in Vanity Fair this month on the Orthodox monks from Greece that made over 1 billion dollars in real estate. The monk that pulled all of this off has a saying over the door of his office that reads, "THE SMART PERSON ACCEPTS, THE IDIOT INSISTS"......the monk explained to the writer the following: Take whatever is thrown at you and build upon it. "YES....and" rather than NO....but".

What incredible advice, and lessons to build a life upon. Take what is thrown at you, and build upon it. Say yes to your life, And I'm going to do the following. Instead of spending your life on the no of your life, but it could have been so much different.

Its so sad to watch people spend their life as a victim, if I had better parents my life would be different, if I had different friends, a different spouse, a different job, went to a different school, lived in a different area. There is so much in life to complain about, there really is, and its not getting you anywhere. The humble man accepts where he is in life, and builds, because its really the only place to start building. The prideful person just keeps on insisting on his own way.
The monk goes on to say, "The idiot is bound by his pride, it always has to be his way. This is also true of the person who is deceptive or doing things wrong. He always tries to justify himself.
A person who is bright in regard to his spiritual life is humble. He accepts what others tell him -- criticism -- ideas -- and works with them."

The humble person is always thinking about building, not looking back. The other thing that we forget, is that our weakness, sins, and sufferings could be where our greatest gift is found, but if we're not open to it we won't find it. The following quote is from Cormac McCarthy's All the Pretty Horses,
"...those who have endured some misfortune will always be set apart but that it is just that misfortune which is their gift and which is their strength and that they must make their way back into the common enterprise of man for without they do so it cannot go forward and they themselves will wither in bitterness"

"Yes to life, and" not, "no to life, but"

Windows and Doors

I am reading a small book that Pope Benedict wrote when he was a cardinal with the name "On Conscience", and he reflects on something that really struck me. When people only follow their personal conscience, they believe that they are living in a state of radical freedom, they are the masters of their own universe, but the truth is they are locked in their own small world, with their only context for reality being, their own thoughts and feelings. The person that allows his conscience to be purified by Jesus and by the Church, lives with the doors and windows of his soul completely open, because the Church is working with 2010 years of experience, and countless sinners and saints as teachers. Its the height of hubris to wake up in the year 2010 and think that you know it all.

That part of the book deals with a worldly deformed conscience, the other end of the spectrum is the deformed conscience of the sincere believer, this is known as scrupulosity, when the conscience convicts a person when there is in fact no sin or a very minor offense. It struck me that both have a similar problem, being closed in on oneself. Being closed. Both have a need to open the windows and doors of the soul.

Michael O'Brien in his book Sophia House has a central character who struggles with severe scrupulosity, and he is always writing in a diary, watching himself closely, when at the end of the book he realizes something powerful, life is only a real life, when its lived outward toward God and towards others. He writes in his diary,

"This is my final entry in these archives, no longer do I need these mirrors, for all around me are windows and doors," Peter Kreeft says it best, "Don't look at yourself so much, look at God and other people, there a lot more interesting,"

It was incredibly interesting to me that both Pope Benedict and Michael O'Brien used the image of Windows and Doors to describe the opposite end of a deformed conscience. One sure fire way to avoid struggles with conscience is to unite closely with the Bible and the Church, because there is hard won wisdom in both, and age old truth that sinners and saints have testified to.

A River Runs Through It

"My father was very sure about certain matters pertaining to the universe. To him, all good things - trout as well as eternal salvation - come by grace and grace comes by art and art does not come easy."

My wife and I watched "A River Runs Through it," on Friday night, and I have to say we loved it. We watched it before, but it never struck us as a great movie. But this time it did, maybe because we're parents now, maybe because the scenery is absolutely breathtaking.

There's some major theme's that run through the movie, the most obvious, is the desire to help those you love, and the acceptance that they may not even want your help, but that we need to do it anyway, because that is a key part of our humanity.

Something else struck me, and that is the similarities to the Bible's Story of the Prodigal Son, which happened to be Sunday's Gospel. This Elder brother is clearly more magnanimous than the Bible's version, but the similarities run through the whole movie. It shed light on something about the Bible's Prodigal Son's story. The Father in the movie, absolutely loves his Prodigal Son, he is fun to be around, he is kind, he is strong. The Father sees all the greatness about his son, but doesn't allow himself to see the weakness. I thought about two things, first, many times people who have addictions when they get help, become exceptional people, because they learn humility the hard way, and they learn to trust God and not themselves the hard way, and a lot of times their curiosity and zeal for life if directed the right way, becomes a terrific pearl for the world. The Second thing, I wonder if God doesn't see us in a similar way, because He is the one that gave us those gifts in the first place, He sees the greatness that this person can become, and He constantly desires us to wake up, and allow Him to direct those desires.

I strongly recommend re-watching "A River Runs Through it", if for no other reason than the amazing scenery.

The Great Gift of Work

Labor day was yesterday, so I wanted to post today on the joy of work. There's so much that can be said, but I wanted to focus on the gift that work is. Sort of an ode to work.

1.) Fear Reliever- The best way to dispel fear is meaningful action. In an NPR interview with George Foreman, he was asked why so many professional athletes make tons of money, to only lose it eventually. He had a great answer, "Most people have this small fear in them, that if circumstances were only slightly different, they might actually starve, this fear keeps them hungry, desiring to earn, while the person who has made significant money, feels that he can rest a while, and stops earning, once you have stopped, its very difficult to start again," This small fear is not a bad thing, it keeps our senses heightened, and keeps us hungry for meaningful work that dispels this fear.

2.) Greater Faith- The farmer needs to do everything right, wake early, till the soil well, but at the end of the day, he needs to trust that it will rain. This is completely out of his control, so he petitions God for help. The same is true for us, we can't worry about things outside of our control, we need to do our best, and then ask God in faith to fill in for those things that are lacking. In this way, work serves to strengthen our faith, because God does come through for us, and we get to see it in a tangible way.

3.) Enlarging our heart- Because work is such a deep part of man, we have the privilege of helping others through our work, both through work well done, and its a big part of Catholic tradition, to work hard to earn a lot of money so to give a lot of money to the poor. God made us to be magnanimous, because he's magnanimous . A desire to make a lot of money to support others, and give to the poor is a legit part of our desires, and a gift that God allows.

4.) Creativity- No one is more creative than God, there is no greater artist. We are made in his image and likeness, so its natural that we should want to create, and be creative. Work gives us this platform, to work on beauty.

All of these examples, are all the more reasons to pray for people that are out of work right now. With unemployment high, its an incredible work of mercy, to offer our contacts to others that they may find meaningful work. May God bless this country this year, that many men may find the joy of work;