Any simple thing
At the Dickens Christmas Fair, San Francisco, 2003
“Christmas in 1949 must compete as never before with the dazzling complexity of man, whose tangential desires and ingenuities have created a world that gives any simple thing the look of obsolescence—as though there were something inherently foolish in what is simple, or natural.” — E. B. White, in The New Yorker, December 1949
We are sometimes misled into thinking that the struggle for simplicity is a new one; that our generation faces dilemmas never seen before. Yet quotes such as this one remind us that details may evolve and grow ever more elaborate, but the essential human flaws and pitfalls remain remarkably unchanged. Now, as in decades and centuries past, we must beware the tendency to covet the newest shiny objects, while dismissing the simple or natural as less sophisticated. Today, I wish you eyes that are open to the value of blessings overlooked by those who rush to the next Big New Thing.
Give freely and abundantly
“Anything you do not give freely and abundantly becomes lost to you. You open your safe and find ashes.” — Annie Dillard
Don’t count me among the cynics who think the holiday season is primarily a commercial enterprise. I love the way people give each other gifts at this time of year. Yes, there are too many dollars wasted on items bought from a feeling of obligation rather than appreciation. But there are so many genuine expressions of love in December, when we stop and take the time to let people know how much they mean to us. Choirs sing for us; bands pay music for us; children create one-of-a-kind artwork and people sit down to write annual updates to send to friends who are geographically far away but close in heart and memory.
Today I hope you will find some small way to join in the widespread goodwill that is there to be seen by anyone who looks for it. Write a brief note to a faraway friend, give a sincere compliment to someone who needs it, or buy an inexpensive but useful gift for someone you appreciate, and wrap it grandly. Joy to the world!
Like of each thing
Pasha watching the snow fall at Christmas time, Alexandria, Virginia 2010
“At Christmas I no more desire a rose
Than wish a snow in May’s new-fangled mirth;
But like of each thing that in season grows.”
—William Shakespeare
When we moved to Virginia from California, I missed having roses in December. Yet I was happy to be living once again in a climate similar to that of my home town, where each season brings its familiar but ever-fresh charms. Wherever you are living, whatever your weather, I hope you will be gladdened today by the natural adornments of the season.
You have to be a child
Jeff and Matt at FAO Schwarz on Christmas Eve 2002, San Francisco
“You have to be a child to know how wonderful is a store window filled with dolls and sleds and other toys. And this wonder came free to Francie. It was nearly as good as actually having the toys to be permitted to look at them through the glass window.” — Betty Smith, in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
There is more than a little of the child I was, still very much alive inside me. Perhaps that explains my sheer delight in the Christmas season. Like Francie in Smith’s wonderful tale, I enjoy looking at things as much or more than I enjoy owning them. During this season, I wish you the unlimited enchantment of looking at colorful displays and capitvating objects with a joy unrelated to any desire to own them.
Not a has-been
Drew with Daddy Oscar, his great-grandfather, 1985
“I am not a has-been. I am a will-be.” — Lauren Bacall
Everybody you know is a work in progress, no matter their age. No exceptions.
“…and what we will be has not yet been made known.” (1 John 3:2, NIV)
The books themselves
Drew at Shakespeare and Company bookstore, Paris 2005
“I cannot remember a time when I was not in love with them–with the books themselves, cover and binding and the paper they were printed on, with their smell and their weight and with their possession in my arms, captured and carried off to myself.” — Eudora Welty
I can think of few sorrows for which I cannot find solace in books. Through the words recorded by others, I am connected with people who amuse, instruct or understand; transported to places that fascinate, captivate or terrify; carried beyond the confines of my own circumstances into a realm of unbridled ideas, possibilites and imagination. Reading changes lives.
Always springtime
A view from Rancho Palos Verdes, California 2004
“It is always springtime in the heart that loves God.” — Jean Vianney, the Curé d’Ars
Spring brings growth, renewal and rebirth. Yet it also brings rain, mud and labor. Keeping springtime in our hearts does not mean denying or ignoring the difficult and painful. Rather, it means looking ahead with hope and expectation, even when the sun is not shining.
Curiosity conquers fear
Monkey business in Roatan, Honduras 2011
“Curiosity will conquer fear even more than bravery will.” — James Stephens
I’m not a particularly brave person, but my curiosity about almost everything knows no bounds, and I can vouch for the truth of Stephens’ observation about its power to overcome fear. Through the years, my curiosity has often met with disdain: “Why should you want to know that?” or “Curiosity killed the cat!” even when my questions are focused on ideas and the world at large, as they almost always are. People who are not innately curious may find it hard to understand the benefit of such an inquiring spirit, but it has kept me from despair more times than I could number. The world is just too fascinating a place for me to stay immersed for very long in my personal grief.
Live faithfully a hidden life
Calligraphy artist, Chinatown, San Francisco 2004
“…for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.”
—George Eliot, from the closing lines of Middlemarch
Look around you today. You are surrounded by saints, cleverly disguised as fallible human beings. Indeed, you may be one yourself.
Sit quietly in a room
Gloria and Pasha sit by our tree, Christmas Eve 2008
“All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.”
― Blaise Pascal
For decades, every year until this one, I have spent much time meticulously decorating our Christmas tree, a sort of yearly scrapbook with an ever-growing collection of ornaments, each representing a memory. I often question whether this is something on which I should spend so much time, because it seems to me that hardly anyone ever sits by the fire to enjoy the tree. But Gloria, my husband’s aunt and one of my dearest friends, is an exception to this. She has spent several Christmases with us, and she never fails to spend much time sitting by the tree (with Pasha nearby) simply enjoying its unique splendor.
Amidst the rush of the season, I hope we will all pause for some quiet moments alone. If you decorate for the season (or even if you do not), take a few minutes to sit quietly in a room and reflect on things that often go unnoticed. Such moments of solitude and contemplation enhance our appreciation of the festive, noisy gatherings of December.
Something truly sacred
Matt on the night before his second open heart surgery, enjoying a moment of laughter with Uncle Eric and Captain (his grandfather), 1994
“I believe that appreciation is a holy thing, that when we look for what’s best in the person we happen to be with at the moment, we’re doing what God does all the time. So in appreciating our neighbor, we’re participating in something truly sacred.”
— Fred Rogers
Those who know me best know that Fred Rogers is one of my great heroes. I am too old to have benefited from his work when I was a child, but through my own children I came to know his profound ability to see the holy in everyday life. Take some time today to channel your inner Fred Rogers and look for the good in each person you meet. It’s one of the simplest ways to make the world a better place, and at the same time, to create a more beautiful neighborhood inside our own minds.
Doing something worthwhile
A Keukenhof gardener, the Netherlands, 2007
“Real joy comes not from ease or riches or from the praise of men, but from doing something worthwhile.” — Sir Wilfred Grenfell
It fascinates me to watch people who are engaged in tasks at which they are not only talented, but obviously enjoying themselves. From the scene-stealing gymnasts or rock musicians, to the less flashy but no less interesting craftsmen or cooks, their absorbed focus on their tasks translates to valuable benefits for those of us who admire, use or consume their work. Take time today to notice (and maybe even thank) people who are good at what they are doing. We are all served by the diligent occupation of many people we do not know — whether a mail carrier, a nurse or an airline pilot — and in turn, may we all do something worthwhile that will enhance others’ lives.
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Until things are brighter
Drew at the graves of Heloise and Abelard, cemetery Père Lachaise, Paris 2005
“Ah, I’d like to wear a rainbow every day
and tell the world that everything’s ok
But I’ll try to carry off a little darkness on my back
‘Till things are brighter, I’m the Man in Black.”
— Johnny Cash
“Every man knows he’s a sissy compared to Johnny Cash.”
— Bono
Optimism untempered by reality is only delusion. This blog exists because I believe with all my heart in the power of positive thinking; that the thoughts we allow our minds to dwell upon do indeed change reality in more ways than we can imagine. But a resounding tribute is owed to those who open our eyes to the pain and suffering all around us. On Pearl Harbor Day, it seems appropriate to pause and turn our thoughts in a more somber direction.
Everyone loves enthusiasm and joy. Those who speak for the suffering, the desperate, and the deserted are seldom popular. From the prophets of old to the modern doctors who must deliver a devastating diagnosis, we all tend to want to shoot the messengers who bring dark news. Yet these people do play a necessary, if thankless, role.
Those of us who have known deep and seemingly unrelenting sorrows can testify that sunny platitudes are sometimes what we least need to hear. The Bible tells us to weep with those who weep, for there is a time for weeping. Today, I reflect in gratitude for the tearful prayers of so many who understand our present suffering and share our sorrows. I invite you to listen to the words (linked above) of the unforgettable “Man in Black” and take a few moments to remember those who are suffering today. May we never flinch at our duty to “bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”
A real and active virtue
Kathy, my friend and fellow camera enthusiast, at the Missouri Botanical Garden in 2008
“True contentment is a real, even an active, virtue – not only affirmative but creative. It is the power of getting out of any situation all there is in it.” — G. K. Chesterton
Although my habit of taking photographs wherever I go sometimes annoys my companions, a few friends share this passion and understand. Photographs are, for me, one way of getting the most out of any situation. When I freeze a moment in time with a photograph, I am saying to myself, “I am happy — or at least content — to be right here, right now, and want always to remember it.” Many of the photos I take are of everyday situations, and I think people are often amused or bewildered at why I would want to capture the mundane or even unpleasant in a photo. But Chesterton’s words have helped me to understand that usually, the urge to bring out my camera springs from the creativity of contentment.
A cathedral in mind
Cologne Cathedral, Germany, 2007
“A pile of rocks ceases to be a rock pile when somebody contemplates it with the idea of a cathedral in mind.” — Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Not everyone is capable of seeing past present realities to grasp what is possible in difficult or unappealing situations. Yet the alchemy of a transformative idea can render the most humble material into breathtaking splendor. As we negotiate the trials of life, whether menacing or mundane, may we have the faith and vision to see beyond immediate limitations to the magnificent possibilities waiting to be revealed.
No pessimist
Golden Gate Bridge and Marin Headlands, 2003
“No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars, or sailed an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit.” — Helen Keller
Few sights are more breathtaking to me than the Golden Gate Bridge and the surrounding lands and sea. Such a vivid reminder of the creativity of people, and especially of the God in whose image they are made, never failed to lift my spirits no matter how many times I stood on the shore and looked out on this scene. I am deeply grateful for the daring, hard work and optimism that made such wonders a reality for us to enjoy. What wonders, large or small, are you thankful for today?
To lead a simple life
Porch scene, Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia 2005
“To lead a simple life in reasonable comfort, with a minimum of possessions, ranks high among the arts of living. It leaves us the time, resources and freedom of mind we need for the things that give life value: loving, helping, serving and giving.” — Eknath Easwaran
Cheerfulness breaking in
Window detail, Washington National Cathedral, Washington DC 2005
“Where Christ is, cheerfulness will keep breaking in.” — Dorothy Sayers
The Bible says “weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” For most of us, this is an ever-repeating cycle. Even in years of great happiness, there are intervals of grief. And even in the darkest night, there come glimmers of humor, hope and cheer; coded signals (often sent through other people) that God is still with us and will never let go.
A great revolution
The Wright Brothers National Memorial, Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, 2006
“The greatest revolution of our generation is the discovery that human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives.” —William James
Despite the controversies that linger over who deserves the credit for the birth of aviation, the Wright Brothers exhibited a persistence and dedication that changed the world forever. Psychology may not have been around to document the crucial role of personal resolve and resilience throughout human history, but countless wonders, conveniences and masterpieces testify that the curious and determined mind can bring about changes undreamed of by those who give up easily.
Bounty enough
Keukenhof Gardens, The Netherlands, March 2007
“We do not want merely to see beauty, though, God knows, even that is bounty
enough. We want something else which can hardly be put into words — to be united
with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe
in it, to become part of it.” — C. S. Lewis
Two things stand
Near Cabo San Lucas, Mexico 2004
“Life is mostly froth and bubble
Two things stand like stone
KINDNESS in another’s trouble
COURAGE in your own.” — Adam Lindsay Gordon
Vibrantly alive
- The Avenue des Champs-Élysées as seen from l’Arc de Triomphe, Paris 2005
“You must learn to be still in the midst of activity and to be vibrantly alive in repose.”
— Indira Gandhi
I love the city; I find its nonstop life energizing and stimulating. Even in the midst of the rush, we can pause long enough to bask in the sensory feast and focus on quiet details that might have escaped notice. In the same way, the most silent and secluded place offers an opportunity to awaken the senses to a bird’s song, a faint breeze or a corner of the imagination previously neglected. Even in sleep, we often encounter dreams that can help us process what our conscious minds avoid. I wish you a day that is vibrantly alive with observation, contemplation and joy.
Absolutely, positively, certainly
Fresh flowers bought for a few dollars at the Kroger markdown bin give us days of enjoyment, and lift my spirits every time I come into the kitchen. Here’s to inexpensive joys!
“In our rush for newer, quicker, better, we seem to be missing out on what we fundamentally crave, a calmer, gentler, sweeter and more gracious life. Is it easy to achieve such a life? Definitely not. Is it possible? Absolutely, positively, certainly, yes. (Don’t look for impossible from me; I’ve never found a solution in cynicism.)” — Alexandra Stoddard
I’ve always loved Alexandra Stoddard’s writing. Her words are calm, measured, and unfailingly optimistic, and she understands that life is a gift to be treasured in all circumstances. As we struggle with the toughest challenges, we find renewal in seeking for good wherever it can be found. May your day be blessed with eyes, heart and mind sharply focused on the abundance all around us.
Open to the day
My mother on my parents’ 50th anniversary, in Banff
That more and more a Providence
Of love is understood,
Making the springs of time and sense
Sweet with eternal good;
That death seems but a covered way
Which opens into light,
Wherein no blinded child can stray
Beyond the Father’s sight…
That all the jarring notes of life
Seem blending in a psalm,
And all the angles of its strife
Slow rounding into calm.
And so the shadows fall apart,
And so the west-winds play;
And all the windows of my heart
I open to the day.
— John Greenleaf Whittier, from “My Psalm”
Nothing so easy
Jeff snapped this photo of me on a Grand Cayman beach, March 2011
There is nothing so easy but it becomes difficult when you do it reluctantly. — Publius Terentius Afer
While we lived in Hawaii, it amazed me when one of my sons complained, “Do we HAVE to go to the beach AGAIN?” It didn’t matter how often I told him we were lucky to live near the most beautiful beaches on earth. He didn’t want to go, so in his eyes, a day at the beach was a difficulty to be avoided.
Since we cannot always do what we like, is there any way we can train ourselves to like at least some of what we must do? Or at least like it a bit more?
Defeat Despair 