May Cause Happiness

This is the title of book I bought sometime in the last couple of months. It is subtitled A Gratitude Journal from the Teachings of Brother David Steindl-Rast. I don't write in it, but I do read the teachings from time to time. The cover shows a figure that I can only describe as somewhat ecstatic. 

I was originally going to write about a meditation image from my book. The title was going to be "Love Your Country - WHAT????" I decided, however, I don't feel quite up to writing about how it's possible to love my country when so many are doing, saying and thinking such awful things. I'd much rather write about how the small things and not just the big things can make me happy. 

The cover of the book is quite expressive. 



I'd like to be like this monk more often, reveling in the shear happiness of being connected, being alive. This is good advice from Brother David: 

"Most people's glorious gates of perception creak on rusty hinges. How much of the splendor of life is wasted on us because we plod along half-blind, half-deaf with all our senses throttled and numbed by habituation....We can deliberately pay attention each day to one smell or sound that we never appreciated before, to one color or shape, one texture, one taste to which we never before paid attention."

It occurred to me while typing out this quote that maybe it speaks to loving my country despite all the crap that's going on. I can focus on one or two things here or there that speak well of my country, that make me happy about my country. And, of course loving my country doesn't preclude loving the world. Just as finding happiness in my life doesn't mean I don't care, I don't say no to what I don't like about what's happening. It's just possible that causing happiness just might allow me to keep rising up. What do you think?

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The first photograph is by Tyler Nix and was found on unsplash.com. I found the cover image of the Brother David Steindl-Rast book on amazon.com. The third image is from my book, Opening the Heart: Meditations on How to Be.

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