The Minute Particular

"Every minute particular is holy." -- William Blake

"We can do no great things, only small things with great love." -- Mother Theresa

This morning, I'm thankful for Fr. Laurence Freeman because he challenges me to broaden my horizons. It's strange for me to be thankful for a priest, because I'm usually just resentful of them. As a born and bred Methodist who came to the Catholic church because Jeff refused to switch, I don't have much use for the pateralistic "Father says" attitude that permeates much of the church. We can all think for ourselves, thank you very much. And I don't need a male appendage to be a person either.

Fr. Freeman, however, is different. I admire him because he's much better read than I am. He's always throwing in obscure literary references and pulling in thoughts from other faiths. Somehow, he manages to remain true to his faith while being all-inclusive. Today, when I got the WCCM newsletter and read his article, I was intrigued by his quotation from Blake, above. His point being that we should focus on the moment -- a concept the Buddhists sometimes call "mindfulness." From there, I looked up the source of the quotation and found it in Blake's "Jerusalem," and I read a little bit of it. The part I read, reminded me of the Mother Theresa quotation, so I looked that up too. It's nice to spend a little time thinking. And gleaning wisdom from greater minds.

Today, I want to live in the moment, like Sam does every day. Which reminds me of another favorite quotation: "Lord, let me be the kind of person my dog thinks I am."

Today has not begun propitiously. The first thing, Kate went downstairs and found that Sam had made a puddle in the kitchen. She found out by stepping in it. She was not happy about it. I don't know why he's doing that -- he's 10, but surely not old enough to lose bladder control. He's always been very well housebroken. Anyway, I was ravenously hungry, so I decided to try an egg in a basket -- one of Kate's favorites -- where you cut a hole in a piece of bread and fry an egg in the hole. I ate most of it, but it made me feel sick. Jeff is driving to Detroit today and won't be back until tomorrow night, then the next day he goes to Mississippi. It's a gloomy day outside and chilly. I guess it's a good day to stay inside and work ... but, first, I need my stomach to settle down enough to tolerate a cup of coffee!

P.S. This is a good read. I like the guy who writes this blog -- whoever he is.