"Congratulations!" I said. "Considering you had a full knee replacement yesterday, that's a step forward!"
I wanted her to count her blessing. And she laughed at the pun. Good. That laugh will relax my precious, vulnerable, lovable little sister a little bit.
Laughter's the best medicine, they say. So is counting our blessings. Being able to laugh and being able to count our blessings work together to lift our souls to heaven. Being able to see God's Presence in everyone and everything helps us to count blessings and find laughter every day in a multitude of ways. A multitude of people. A multitude of situations.
Christianity has something unique to offer the world: Incarnation. God Who made all is a Transcendent Being. But God is also present in everyone and everything. God's Presence through God taking flesh in this world in the Person of Jesus teaches us that God considers this earth and everything on it worthy of His Presence. That means, as Fr. Richard Rohr says, everyone and everything is a Gateway to God, a Gateway to the Eternal.
After all, Jesus told us that the Kingdom of Heaven is Here and Now.
Everyone and everything, in its specific, ordinary, uniqueness, presents us with God - if we pay attention. If we love. If we are awed and wonder-struck and humble. Then God becomes present to us in ordinary eyes and voices and petals and fur and roars. Everything is beautiful and God-filled in its own way.
This is the Path to Laughter and Counting Blessings. Because All is Blessing - which makes us laugh.
Every time we are able to focus on what is going on around us we can find the blessings, we can gaze into the eternal, especially if we love. If we love deeply, we know in the depths of our souls that this precious, lovable person - or cat - or dog - this unique individual - this Mother Earth - has a soul and will continue to live past death. Love tells us that, and Love is a Reason Unto Itself.
Julian of Norwich says
" Nothing in creation
was unknown by Him from the beginning.
All was set in order before anything was made.
Nothing will fail in its design,
for all is abundantly good.
So the Trinity is entirely pleased with all its works.
Behold, I am God.
Behold, I am in all things.
Behold, I accomplish all things.
Behold, I never withdraw My arms from My work.
Behold, I never fail to guide all things
toward the purpose for which I created them,
before time began,
with the strength, wisdom, and love
with which I created all.
So how can anything go wrong?" (from "All Will Be Well, Julian of Norwich" Ave Maria Press.)
- So - if we have Faith, Hope, and Love, if we trust in the Divine Goodness and Mercy, how can we keep from counting our blessings? How can we not laugh, even through our sometime tears?