Change

I was just watching the 60 Minutes interview with Archbishop Dolan and he was talking about how people shouldn't focus on the Church's rules and restrictions but instead receive her rich heritage with joy and gratitude. His entire face lit up as he said this. In my case, none of the Church's doctrines or moral teachings are a challenge to me in the sense that I have difficulty believing or obeying (for the most part, anyway) in my day to day life. On the other hand, what I'd want to change is how long it takes God to do some leeeetle particular vocational things I'd like to happen around, say, NOW. I CAN'T do what I want, I'm limited by God's not opening this or that door . . . wait, what does this sound like? Yes, you got it: it's simple dissent! Instead of complaining--which, incidentally, I'm supposed to have given up for Lent--I need to be grateful for God's immense gifts in my life. Instead of asking for change in the circumstances of my life, I need to ask for a change of heart.

Made-Up Sayings

At some point when I was young, my dad told me, "Laugh and the whole world laughs with you; cry and you all get wet." Upon reflection, this saying epitomizes our shared optimist philosophy: it's better to laugh so that everyone can have a good time, but at least if you cry you all get wet and that becomes funny too! Unfortunately, thanks to the powers of Google, I just discovered that this saying, which I took to be a wise dictum handed on through the ages, is actually a bastardization of a couple lines of a poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox. The actual lines are "Laugh, and the world laughs with you; / Weep, and you weep alone."

So now I'm chagrined, because I just repeated what I thought was a real saying to my coworkers, only to have them all aver that they had never heard that before. I'm chagrined because I should have expected this from my dad, who also repeated many a line from The Far Side or Deep Thoughts (by Jack Handy) to me as if they were wise sayings. (Coincidentally, my youngest sister has a memory store full of Jack Handy quotes, which she can pull out on any occasion.) And I am chagrined because it's a rainy day and now I have a depressing quote on my hands. Weep and you weep alone . . . no way! :-)