Still Alive, for Now!

My birthday was this past week and I can’t help but obsess a little about how grateful I am to be alive.

My friend Andrew Breitbart dying this month no doubt has something to do with it. Ditto my friend Dorothy McCartney, longtime Bill Buckley/National Review researcher, during the summer.

The gift I got for my birthday this year, which I fervently pray I make great use of, is a sense of urgency. Not the kind of urgency that stresses one out, but something very different: one that cuts through the anxiety and puts one firmly in God’s hands.

Life is too short to get in the way of doing God’s will. We get in the way, among other ways, when we needlessly worry and pretend we can or should control things.

As the psalm Sunday says,

A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me.

When Dorothy died, I happened to be on the West Coast, literally. The ocean seemed to sing from Daniel, as many prayed in the Liturgy of the Hours Sunday:

Bless the Lord, all you works of the Lord,
praise and exalt him above all forever.

Angels of the Lord, bless the Lord,
praise and exalt him above all forever.

You heavens, bless the Lord,
praise and exalt him above all forever.

All you waters above the heavens, bless the Lord,
praise and exalt him above all forever.

All you powers, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.

Sun and moon, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.

Stars of heaven, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.

Every shower and dew, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.

All you winds, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.

Fire and heat, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.

Cold and chill, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.

Dew and rain, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.

Frost and chill, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.

Hoarfrost and snow, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.

Nights and days, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.

Light and darkness, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.

Lightnings and clouds, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.

Let the earth bless the Lord,
praise and exalt him above all forever.

Mountains and hills, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.

Everything growing on earth, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.

You springs, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.

Seas and rivers, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.

You sea monsters and all water creatures, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.

All you birds of the air, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.

All you beasts, wild and tame, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.

All you mortals, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.

O Israel, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.

Priests of the Lord, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.

Servants of the Lord, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.

Spirits and souls of the just, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.

Holy and humble of heart, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.

If we live embodying a love for the Lord, it makes all the difference.

Speaking of: R.I.P. to a lady of great humility and fullness of life, Priscilla Buckley.