Good morning…
I went to the estate sale of a friend who was retiring and moving after thirty fertile years. Instantly, I was drawn to the plaque hanging in her kitchen: “Feel free to sing and dance – you many not get a second chance.” So I dished out the $2.00 and came home with the fun find.
It didn’t take long for God to connect the dots between this happy gift, a quote from our Henri Nouwen summer read, and another friend having a birthday this month. This birthday girl has been through a lot of really hard things over the past several years, extreme challenges that could have made her angry at the unfairness of life. Yet I have marveled as she and God have worked through and forgiven trial after trial after trial. So I thought of her when we read these words on page 161 of Nouwen’s book Here and Now.
“Once we are able to forgive, we can be grateful for what we have received,” writes Henri. “And we have received so much. We can walk, talk, smile, move, laugh, cry, eat, drink, dance, play, work, sing, give life, give joy, give hope, give love. We are alive!”
This quote reminded me of the plaque I had just purchased. Forgive. Be grateful. Receive. “Feel free to sing and dance – you many not get a second chance.” I wrote a note of encouragement and included the Nouwen quote in a birthday card for my faithful friend.
As our Thursday group meets once a month in the summer, we celebrate birthdays. On page 20 Nouwen writes this. “Birthdays need to be celebrated. I think it is more important to celebrate a birthday than a successful exam, a promotion, or a victory. Because to celebrate a birthday means to say to someone: ‘Thank you for being you.’ Celebrating a birthday is exalting life and being glad for it. On a birthday we do not say: ‘Thank you for what you did, or said, or accomplished.’ No, we say: ‘Thank you for being born and being among us.'”
Yesterday, we gathered as a group, and my friend unwrapped the playful plaque with her birthday card.
Might we all be inspired to forgive, be grateful, receive, walk, talk, smile, move, laugh, cry, eat, drink, dance, play, work, sing, give life, give joy, give hope, give love.
We, my friends, we are alive!
Seize life! Eat bread with gusto, drink wine with a robust heart. Oh yes—God takes pleasure in your pleasure! . . . Each day is God’s gift. It’s all you get in exchange for the hard work of staying alive. Make the most of each one! Whatever turns up, grab it and do it. And heartily! This is your last and only chance at it (Ecclesiastes 9:7-10a, MSG).
…Sue…
