June 23: A Happy Catholic

Author and blogger Julie Davis considers herself a “Happy Catholic” (also the title of her blog) not only because her spiritual journey has taken her from atheism to belief, but because it’s changed her attitude about life.

Julie admitted on Christopher Closeup that she’d always been a negative, glass-is-half-empty person who was good with a stinging putdown of someone else.  A few years after she started blogging, she saw some people commenting about her, “I love Julie. She’s so happy, cheerful, perky and optimistic.”  Julie realized, “I am now a glass-is-half-full kind of person.”

That positive attitude helped her be a model of faith to her non-believing father when he was dying.  Julie recalled, “I had the great privilege of being allowed to sit on the bed next to him and say, ‘Dad, you’re going to die soon and when that happens and God reaches out His hand, please reach out and grab it back.  All the happiness that you’ve been looking for and not finding is there.’  He started crying, grabbed my hand and said, ‘I will. I will.’  And that’s not anything I did.  I was doing my best, but only God could move a heart like that.”

You have put gladness in my heart. (Psalm 4:7)

Father, teach me to live joyfully.