Sufficient is more than enough, but a culture built on consumption cannot stop. There are many harms that come from continuous wanting, but one of the worst is missing a single moment of beauty.
Most days are pretty normal. Today I worked on The Saint Constantine School finances (job one for me!) and prepared for my lectures next week. Given that we are hosting twenty-one souls for the Feast tomorrow, I also had chores . . . many chores. There was a round of Madden 2016 at lunch, but then I had to fix the speakers.
Working from home is work.
Yet there was one moment, about the time I got the gas fireplace to work, where Beauty came. Hope and Mary Kate were in the kitchen cooking and discussing a Chopped episode. Jacob and Jane came home and Jacob brought some port wine. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I was happy.
This was not an epic moment and it ended as quickly as it began. There was no sense trying to recapture the feeling. It came, it happened, it blessed me. That was sufficient.
I think that most days contain such small blessings and that if we would notice them and not try to live in them that our days would be much better. There was much to do today and I did it. This was normal, but became the frame for an extraordinary moment.
Not every day is Thanksgiving and only one day is Christmas, but I have become convinced that every day has tiny moments of Paradise, but that I miss them because they’re too still, small, and quick to register. I want a subwoofer to pound out a bass line and a voice over from Morgan Freeman. This does not happen in real life, instead happiness comes and I could have it for the moment it is there.
If I demand more, I will spoil what it is. I must stop, think about, and live in it that small moment. If the soundtrack of all the media I pump into my life is too loud, then I will miss that moment. If I am greedy, then the moment will never come. Like a good conversation, the great happiness happens or it does not. One cannot plan it, only be ready to receive it.
How?
First, I must be content and not demand more than the day will give me. Second, I must let go of the demand for more. This is enough and more might move from elation to drunkenness. Finally, I must begin being thankful for small favors so I can be fit for greater ones.
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and most of the day will be what-it-is. Look for a moment and be content. A lifetime of such moments is a series of road signs to Paradise.
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