Laughing at Insults
Desert Fathers, hospice lessons, and blessings for the ordinary
Welcome back!
I’m going to be experimenting with a new format in the coming weeks. It will feature five different elements: a wisdom text (from something I’ve been reading), a reflection question, a lesson learned from one of my hospice patients (aka “Secrets of the Dying”), a blessing related to something I witnessed or experienced in my daily life, and a link to something I’ve been reading, watching, or listening to.
The goal with all of this remains the same… to offer a quiet space for contemplation and reflection.
As always, I’d love to hear from you Let me know what you think!
Wisdom Text
(from the Verba Seniorum of the Desert Fathers)
ONCE there was a disciple of a Greek philosopher who was commanded by his Master for three years to give money to everyone who insulted him. When this period of trial was over, the Master said to him: Now you can go to Athens and learn wisdom.
When the disciple was entering Athens he met a certain wise man who sat at the gate insulting everybody who came and went. He also insulted the disciple who immediately burst out laughing.
“Why do you laugh when I insult you?” said the wise man.
“Because,” said the disciple, “for three years I have been paying for this kind of thing and now you give it to me for nothing.”
“Enter the city, said the wise man, it is all yours.”
Abbot John used to tell the above story, saying: “This is the door of God by which our fathers rejoicing in many tribulations enter into the City of Heaven.”
Question
(for further reflection)
Are there any insults that you’ve been carrying around that it’s time for you to laugh at and let go of?
Secret of the Dying
(Life lessons from my hospice patients)
The other day I was with a hospice patient who is dying of a number of cancers. She is 81. She’s completely bedridden. Usually when she talks she doesn’t make a lot of sense—and the fact that she has no teeth makes it even harder to understand her.
But on this particular day, she squeezed my hand and got this clarity in her eyes as she announced with her sweet southern drawl:
“Tomorrow is tomorrow. Today is my favorite. Even though I’m sick and things are horrible… I’m okay. Today is my favorite.”
Blessing for the Ordinary
(inspired by everyday moments)
Blessed is the man who rises early in the morning to pick up litter in the street when no one is looking.
To Read
From The Atlantic: The Death of the Minivan
The minivan dilemma: It is the least cool vehicle ever designed, yet the most useful. Offering the best value for the most function to a plurality of American drivers, a minivan can cart seven passengers or more in comfort if not style, haul more cargo than many larger trucks, and do so for a sticker price roughly a quarter cheaper than competing options. Even so, minivan sales have been falling steadily since their peak in 2000, when about 1.3 million were sold in the United States…