Loving The Silence

Please God, punish them!

In one of the conversations I had with my Nepalese colleague, Ashis, I pondered how it’d be like not to have a God. I have many friends who do not have one. From the way I see it, they look happy and contented with everything life they think is about, even in the absence of prayer and divine intercession. I do not feel any sort of animosity towards them for not believing the God I grew up knowing. As a matter of fact, I do not even pray for them to find my God, contrary to what other devout Christians do. There was a time in my Christian life when praying for “lost souls” was a responsibility. That was when I was crazily addicted to my God. Right now, I let “lost souls” wander wherever they like. Call me a bad Catholic.

Or judge me for my unchristian deeds!

Believe me, there are many of us in this boat ride. I am pretty sure I have ex-brothers and ex-sisters (you know who you are) who share my a-bit-way-off Christian sentiment. From being a straight follower of the divine teachings, here we are turning to the “other” verses of the world. Not that we indulge ourselves to super evil ways, we are only taking the paths that are daring and not controlled by policies of a single community. We still pray, by the way. Or at least acknowledge that God exists. This time, we are free of guilt when we miss daily masses, or a rosary gathering.

Personally, this circumstance makes me catch a glimpse of the world in a different perspective. I hear you. Don’t lecture me of spiritual dryness. This is not the chapter of my life where I am feeling something spiritually foreign in me. Everything in my system is normal and, honestly, I need no rescuing. Why don’t you pay attention instead to those priests who sexually abuse children?

It is a different perspective when I get to respect other religions and not condemn them for being “protestants.” I have attended other Christian churches only to realize that they are no different than mine, spiritually. In their routines, they read the bible, give sermons, give praise and sing songs. But why was I taught that Catholicism is the one and only? That heaven is only made for Catholics?

I have met and befriended Muslims in my travels around the world. Like my Christian friends, they are likeable people who practice the Islam faith and strictly conform to their set of spiritual customs and traditions. But why was I taught that Muslims will never be saved, when in truth, Islam preaches “peace, mercy, justice, equality, love, truth, forgiveness, patience, sincerity and righteousness”?

It is a different perspective when I open my mind to people not being judged on the basis of their religion or belief. There are times I ponder that religion only divides humanity, instead of encouraging unity. And this is not what religion should be. What a shame if it is!

It is so sad to know that Christians who are intolerant to other religions, say Islam, are the devout ones — those who try very hard to force their message across saying “join us, otherwise you go to hell.” They are the circle of people whose religious social networks are very limited and usually constricted to their own.

Listen: lead by example. Instead of forcing your beliefs to others, live a normal Christian life and hope that others will notice the difference you make to yourself and they emulate you. Help others without the expectations of them following your God. Most importantly, stop the divine blackmail of “suffering perpetually in hell when you are not one of us”. The more you force people, the more they go away from you.

Again, lead by example. Fashion yourself into the kind of person you want others to follow. If you are a lady preacher, don’t sleep with men you barely know. If you are a priest, do not sexually abuse kids.

I do not have any regret learning the foundations of my Catholic faith. I am what I am now because of the my strong Christian roots. It is just disappointing that it has to take maturity and wisdom to realize that different “faiths” can co-exist. In my childhood days, I was conditioned to believe that my God hates other religions. That believing in them is a curse. Oftentimes, in my hometown, I would hear adults say “lain na sila ug tinuho-an” (their religion is different), when talking about a small group of people who dress differently. Almost always, adults would make it sound like all about them is religion, like there is nothing to talk about them but their faith. And almost always, kids like me were convinced that they are outcasts, that they are different from the Catholic kids.

My grade 5 Cathechism teacher once shouted at me in class for not knowing what to say when making the three small signs of the cross on the forehead, lips, and chest. She said with a devilish grin, “Unsa ka, Muslim?” (What are you, a Muslim?”) The incident left me very embarrassed while, at the same time, made me think that being in another religion is bad! The teacher’s reaction implied that in order for me to learn the faith, hate others.

But I am different now. I still love my God, but I have learned to open my mind to understanding other Gods and to accept that the only way believers of various religions can co-exist is to respect each other and to stop being hateful. Nothing else. Insisting that one saves souls better than the other, creates chaos. Many Gods but one common goal, to reach the eternal destination — a solemn place somewhere, where Islam calls it “Paradise”, where Christianity calls it “Heaven”, where Hindu Vaishnava traditions calls it “Vaikuntha”, where Buddhism calls it “Nirvana.” In the end, heaven, or whatever name it is, is NOT only made for Catholics, or Christians in general.

Which heaven do you want? I suggest, the easy way to getting there is not to become like the slutty pastor’s daughter, or the abusive priest. Oh I forgot, they are likely be heading somewhere else.

This new law is both silly and dangerous. It is silly because medieval religious laws have no place in a modern secular republic, where the criminal law should protect people and not ideas. And it is dangerous because it incentives religious outrage, and because Islamic States led by Pakistan are already using the wording of this Irish law to promote new blasphemy laws at UN level.

We believe in the golden rule: that we have a right to be treated justly, and that we have a responsibility to treat other people justly. Blasphemy laws are unjust: they silence people in order to protect ideas. In a civilised society, people have a right to to express and to hear ideas about religion even if other people find those ideas to be outrageous.

Anyone is free to republish the list. See below the list of 25 blasphemous quotes by Atheist Ireland.

1. Jesus Christ, when asked if he was the son of God, in Matthew 26:64: “Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.” According to the Christian Bible, the Jewish chief priests and elders and council deemed this statement by Jesus to be blasphemous, and they sentenced Jesus to death for saying it.

2. Jesus Christ, talking to Jews about their God, in John 8:44: “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him.” This is one of several chapters in the Christian Bible that can give a scriptural foundation to Christian anti-Semitism. The first part of John 8, the story of “whoever is without sin cast the first stone”, was not in the original version, but was added centuries later. The original John 8 is a debate between Jesus and some Jews. In brief, Jesus calls the Jews who disbelieve him sons of the Devil, the Jews try to stone him, and Jesus runs away and hides.

3. Muhammad, quoted in Hadith of Bukhari, Vol 1 Book 8 Hadith 427: “May Allah curse the Jews and Christians for they built the places of worship at the graves of their prophets.” This quote is attributed to Muhammad on his death-bed as a warning to Muslims not to copy this practice of the Jews and Christians. It is one of several passages in the Koran and in Hadith that can give a scriptural foundation to Islamic anti-Semitism, including the assertion in Sura 5:60 that Allah cursed Jews and turned some of them into apes and swine.

4. Mark Twain, describing the Christian Bible in Letters from the Earth, 1909: “Also it has another name – The Word of God. For the Christian thinks every word of it was dictated by God. It is full of interest. It has noble poetry in it; and some clever fables; and some blood-drenched history; and some good morals; and a wealth of obscenity; and upwards of a thousand lies… But you notice that when the Lord God of Heaven and Earth, adored Father of Man, goes to war, there is no limit. He is totally without mercy – he, who is called the Fountain of Mercy. He slays, slays, slays! All the men, all the beasts, all the boys, all the babies; also all the women and all the girls, except those that have not been deflowered. He makes no distinction between innocent and guilty… What the insane Father required was blood and misery; he was indifferent as to who furnished it.” Twain’s book was published posthumously in 1939. His daughter, Clara Clemens, at first objected to it being published, but later changed her mind in 1960 when she believed that public opinion had grown more tolerant of the expression of such ideas. That was half a century before Fianna Fail and the Green Party imposed a new blasphemy law on the people of Ireland.

5. Tom Lehrer, The Vatican Rag, 1963: “Get in line in that processional, step into that small confessional. There, the guy who’s got religion’ll tell you if your sin’s original. If it is, try playing it safer, drink the wine and chew the wafer. Two, four, six, eight, time to transubstantiate!”

6. Randy Newman, God’s Song, 1972: “And the Lord said: I burn down your cities – how blind you must be. I take from you your children, and you say how blessed are we. You all must be crazy to put your faith in me. That’s why I love mankind.”

7. James Kirkup, The Love That Dares to Speak its Name, 1976: “While they prepared the tomb I kept guard over him. His mother and the Magdalen had gone to fetch clean linen to shroud his nakedness. I was alone with him… I laid my lips around the tip of that great cock, the instrument of our salvation, our eternal joy. The shaft, still throbbed, anointed with death’s final ejaculation.” This extract is from a poem that led to the last successful blasphemy prosecution in Britain, when Denis Lemon was given a suspended prison sentence after he published it in the now-defunct magazine Gay News. In 2002, a public reading of the poem, on the steps of St. Martin-in-the-Fields church in Trafalgar Square, failed to lead to any prosecution. In 2008, the British Parliament abolished the common law offences of blasphemy and blasphemous libel.

8. Matthias, son of Deuteronomy of Gath, in Monty Python’s Life of Brian, 1979: “Look, I had a lovely supper, and all I said to my wife was that piece of halibut was good enough for Jehovah.”

9. Rev Ian Paisley MEP to the Pope in the European Parliament, 1988: “I denounce you as the Antichrist.” Paisley’s website describes the Antichrist as being “a liar, the true son of the father of lies, the original liar from the beginning… he will imitate Christ, a diabolical imitation, Satan transformed into an angel of light, which will deceive the world.”

10. Conor Cruise O’Brien, 1989: “In the last century the Arab thinker Jamal al-Afghani wrote: ‘Every Muslim is sick and his only remedy is in the Koran.’ Unfortunately the sickness gets worse the more the remedy is taken.”

11. Frank Zappa, 1989: “If you want to get together in any exclusive situation and have people love you, fine – but to hang all this desperate sociology on the idea of The Cloud-Guy who has The Big Book, who knows if you’ve been bad or good – and cares about any of it – to hang it all on that, folks, is the chimpanzee part of the brain working.”

12. Salman Rushdie, 1990: “The idea of the sacred is quite simply one of the most conservative notions in any culture, because it seeks to turn other ideas – uncertainty, progress, change – into crimes.” In 1989, Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran issued a fatwa ordering Muslims to kill Rushdie because of blasphemous passages in Rushdie’s novel The Satanic Verses.

13. Bjork, 1995: “I do not believe in religion, but if I had to choose one it would be Buddhism. It seems more livable, closer to men… I’ve been reading about reincarnation, and the Buddhists say we come back as animals and they refer to them as lesser beings. Well, animals aren’t lesser beings, they’re just like us. So I say fuck the Buddhists.”

14. Amanda Donohoe on her role in the Ken Russell movie Lair of the White Worm, 1995: “Spitting on Christ was a great deal of fun. I can’t embrace a male god who has persecuted female sexuality throughout the ages, and that persecution still goes on today all over the world.”

15. George Carlin, 1999: “Religion easily has the greatest bullshit story ever told. Think about it. Religion has actually convinced people that there’s an invisible man living in the sky who watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever ’til the end of time! But He loves you. He loves you, and He needs money! He always needs money! He’s all-powerful, all-perfect, all-knowing, and all-wise, somehow just can’t handle money! Religion takes in billions of dollars, they pay no taxes, and they always need a little more. Now, talk about a good bullshit story. Holy Shit!”

16. Paul Woodfull as Ding Dong Denny O’Reilly, The Ballad of Jaysus Christ, 2000: “He said me ma’s a virgin and sure no one disagreed, Cause they knew a lad who walks on water’s handy with his feet… Jaysus oh Jaysus, as cool as bleedin’ ice, With all the scrubbers in Israel he could not be enticed, Jaysus oh Jaysus, it’s funny you never rode, Cause it’s you I do be shoutin’ for each time I shoot me load.”

17. Jesus Christ, in Jerry Springer The Opera, 2003: “Actually, I’m a bit gay.” In 2005, the Christian Institute tried to bring a prosecution against the BBC for screening Jerry Springer the Opera, but the UK courts refused to issue a summons.

18. Tim Minchin, Ten-foot Cock and a Few Hundred Virgins, 2005: “So you’re gonna live in paradise, With a ten-foot cock and a few hundred virgins, So you’re gonna sacrifice your life, For a shot at the greener grass, And when the Lord comes down with his shiny rod of judgment, He’s gonna kick my heathen ass.”

19. Richard Dawkins in The God Delusion, 2006: “The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.” In 2007 Turkish publisher Erol Karaaslan was charged with the crime of insulting believers for publishing a Turkish translation of The God Delusion. He was acquitted in 2008, but another charge was brought in 2009. Karaaslan told the court that “it is a right to criticise religions and beliefs as part of the freedom of thought and expression.”

20. Pope Benedict XVI quoting a 14th century Byzantine emperor, 2006: “Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.” This statement has already led to both outrage and condemnation of the outrage. The Organisation of the Islamic Conference, the world’s largest Muslim body, said it was a “character assassination of the prophet Muhammad”. The Malaysian Prime Minister said that “the Pope must not take lightly the spread of outrage that has been created.” Pakistan’s foreign Ministry spokesperson said that “anyone who describes Islam as a religion as intolerant encourages violence”. The European Commission said that “reactions which are disproportionate and which are tantamount to rejecting freedom of speech are unacceptable.”

21. Christopher Hitchens in God is not Great, 2007: “There is some question as to whether Islam is a separate religion at all… Islam when examined is not much more than a rather obvious and ill-arranged set of plagiarisms, helping itself from earlier books and traditions as occasion appeared to require… It makes immense claims for itself, invokes prostrate submission or ‘surrender’ as a maxim to its adherents, and demands deference and respect from nonbelievers into the bargain. There is nothing-absolutely nothing-in its teachings that can even begin to justify such arrogance and presumption.”

22. PZ Myers, on the Roman Catholic communion host, 2008: “You would not believe how many people are writing to me, insisting that these horrible little crackers (they look like flattened bits of styrofoam) are literally pieces of their god, and that this omnipotent being who created the universe can actually be seriously harmed by some third-rate liberal intellectual at a third-rate university… However, inspired by an old woodcut of Jews stabbing the host, I thought of a simple, quick thing to do: I pierced it with a rusty nail (I hope Jesus’s tetanus shots are up to date). And then I simply threw it in the trash, followed by the classic, decorative items of trash cans everywhere, old coffeegrounds and a banana peel.”

23. Ian O’Doherty, 2009: “(If defamation of religion was illegal) it would be a crime for me to say that the notion of transubstantiation is so ridiculous that even a small child should be able to see the insanity and utter physical impossibility of a piece of bread and some wine somehow taking on corporeal form. It would be a crime for me to say that Islam is a backward desert superstition that has no place in modern, enlightened Europe and it would be a crime to point out that Jewish settlers in Israel who believe they have a God given right to take the land are, frankly, mad. All the above assertions will, no doubt, offend someone or other.”

24. Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, 2009: “Whether a person is atheist or any other, there is in fact in my view something not totally human if they leave out the transcendent… we call it God… I think that if you leave that out you are not fully human.” Because atheism is not a religion, the Irish blasphemy law does not protect atheists from abusive and insulting statements about their fundamental beliefs. While atheists are not seeking such protection, we include the statement here to point out that it is discriminatory that this law does not hold all citizens equal.

25. Dermot Ahern, Irish Minister for Justice, introducing his blasphemy law at an Oireachtas Justice Committee meeting, 2009, and referring to comments made about him personally: “They are blasphemous.” Deputy Pat Rabbitte replied: “Given the Minister’s self-image, it could very well be that we are blaspheming,” and Minister Ahern replied: “Deputy Rabbitte says that I am close to the baby Jesus, I am so pure.” So here we have an Irish Justice Minister joking about himself being blasphemed, at a parliamentary Justice Committee discussing his own blasphemy law, that could make his own jokes illegal.

The first time I’ve heard Fr. Dickinson asking people to avoid saying the “Merry Christmas” greeting before December 24th, was that afternoon when I felt, for the very first time, the very spirit of Christmas. The moment I thought Christmas was already in the air, Fr. Dickinson cut the happy moment short. That was sad. He said in his homily that people should not use “Merry Christmas” but rather say “Have a good Advent.” He further said that whenever someone will say “Merry Christmas” to him before the 24th of December, he will not answer the same.

I understand his argument.  He contended that “Merry Christmas” is often said minus the real meaning that comes with the words. In short, people who utter the greeting without knowing what it truly carries, are hypocrites and pretenders. He said that Catholics must instead prepare themselves for Christ’s birth and start the “Merry Christmas” greeting on the 24th and on each day for 12 days thereafter (like the 12 days of Christmas).

What I don’t understand from Fr. Andrew Dickinson’s views is his generalization that everyone who says “Merry Christmas” isn’t meaning it. I don’t know, maybe some of his American parishioners are bluffers. That is why he thought everyone inside the church thinks and does like his parishioners. I have high respect for Fr. Dickinson and love his homilies. Truly. It was just this stance of his that I find a bit off.

But what about those who believe the real meaning of the words upon utterance? Why would Fr. Dickinson ask for the avoidance of the greeting when, most often, there are others who think “Merry Christmas” is indeed proclaiming the Christ Child as the center of the Christmas Season, regardless of the date?

Christmas in the Philippines usually start when the month ends with ‘ber’ — that is September. We have been known to have the longest Christmas celebration in the world. When we hear someone say “Merry Christmas” early in the year, we never condemn him or her. Why should we be disgusted with the words when the Christmas spirit never fails to bring joy, unity and peace to the community? If only Christmas can be celebrated every day, we will.

Had Father delivered the homily in my country, people will be left frowning for his unusual message. I felt sad when I listened to his homily that afternoon…maybe there were others in the church who were affected too.  I bet, had there been someone in the church who had less faith in Christmas, would surely lose his belief in seconds.

Tell me Father, am I now an enemy of Christmas for wishing family and friends a “Merry Christmas” before December 24?

Father Dickinson, there are so many Catholics out there who know that the central focus of this season is the birth of the Christ Child. I really hope that priest like you won’t ask believers to stop wishing people a “Merry Christmas”. Fr. Paul Rutten never asked us before. Or maybe Fr. Rutten understands “Merry Christmas” better.

In SDSU campus where the Christmas spirit is hardly felt, Fr. Andrew Dickinson should have made Christmas a little happier, merrier… Christmas can be MERRY and blessed at the same time, even before Christmas day.

I would have wanted to say “Merry Christmas” to Father Dickinson before the semester ended. But I did not. After all, like what he said, it isn’t yet the 24th!

Action without faith, is it enough? To do good and not evil; is it a guarantee of getting a place up there in the vast kingdom of God?

They say it is easy to be among the millions who are rejoicing in the heavens. They say that a place has already been set for us – a place surrounded by God’s infinite goodness. But can the grace be granted to those who are unprepared and undeserving individuals?

There is a moral foundation of the universe that in every effect there is always a cause. In every action there is always a counterpart reaction. It equally applies to human beings. I presume in every religion you’ll hear that “as ye sow, shall ye reap.” We get what we deserve.

We see it around. People do charity works and devote their time and service for the less fortunate others. Few make sure to live their lives in an upright and blameless way. What returns are rightly due for these be worthy of honor individuals? Read: he who plants melons, reap melons; he who does good, begets good.

I am sure that God is happy for these people. On the other hand, I am also sure that He is happier for those who recognize and acknowledge His presence. True, there are those who do generous deeds but very poor in spirit. Will God open His arms for them in acceptance? No doubt, he will. His mercy is incomparable and beyond measure.

A national magazine in my country once ran a very miraculous story of a lady who was sick of sclerosis (a hardening of a body part or tissue), was wearing a full body brace and had to be physically transported to places. Doctors had given up hope on her and that she almost died a couple of times already. But alas, she outlived it, survived the doctor’s death sentence and bears no trace of having the disease at all. How did she do it? Did she spend all her days healing her body?

The lady is a deeply spiritual person. For years she has prayed religiously, despite her own helpless state, not just for her own sake but for others too who needed most of her prayers. Her heart goes out beyond her own needs. Today, she has recovered and enjoyed sharing meaningful services to everybody else. With the miraculous event that happened in her life, she did not forget to thank the one responsible for it. She believes that by doing good and at the same time experiencing God’s power; it will create a happiness that no one could ever, ever give and achieve. She was healed because she qualified for it. Not only had she became a true disciple of God but also a true servant to all.

The law is so simple and just. No one can easily inherit the kingdom. The good thing is, the deserving had already been reserved.

We claim that if the sun shines on both the sinner and the saint, how come that most of the time the good suffers while the immoral and the corrupt turn out well and prosper. This is just an illusion. Continuously, life keeps books and records on all of us. If we have our own tally sheets so does life. In there, can be found all our liabilities and holdings. In there, can be revealed all our strengths and weaknesses, triumphs and defeats, failures and accomplishments. After all, we are the sum total of all our actions.

When we serve humanity and be of service to Him, then we may be worthy and entitled of God’s assistance and rewards, which come in various forms and many folds including a place set in heaven.

Finally, to reserve a space up above, we aim for good and not evil. Also note that God wishes to let Himself shine in our midst. Hence, let us ask ourselves what we can do to serve the Supreme Best and His flock. May we not wait to be trapped in a hopeless situation, to be gasping for breath, just to know God’s mercy and love.

Is it enough not to do evil? Yes, but when we couple it with faith and trust, praise and thanksgiving to the one and only source of all good things to come, God will smile even more. Only then we can draw our rewards when we have saved enough.

I wrote something about this before.

Ora et Labora (translated as Prayer and Work) are ancient monastic values. The values are for busy people who, because of their tight schedules, have sporadically affected their time of silence and prayer.

For many of us, labor has become our existence. People see us on our feet frequently moving, or more appropriately running, like there is someone catching us up from behind. We become more of pursuers than just plain dreamers. More often than not, we were reminded by friends to take an hour off on a Sunday afternoon to chill out from a tough week of pure working.

Nonetheless we never learn. We often do this and that, this and that again and juggle time like the world would end any moment. From the Mystery of the Ordinary, the writer wits: “To stop and rest is to trust that the world will go on in an orderly fashion without my help for a few minutes or a few hours.” In the defence of the workaholics, we just cannot tolerate chances. Tragedies happen when we begin to take chances. To us it seems the world would come to a halt if we do not make our moves count. Work shapes us. We love work and we abhor the idea of stopping.

“Pray and work” is the summation of the Benedictine Rule. If someone wishes to attain a dwelling place in His kingdom, he shall not reach it unless he does his share of good deeds. Prayer and work must go together. Somehow the same meaning is conveyed by the words preachers often quip: “Do your best and God will do the rest”. Time and again, we are reminded of the reality that working too much is never enough, prayer must have its share for God to emancipate His power of fulfilling the rest of the tasks.

Yet why have we in one way or another lost the grace to rest and just be still? How heavy-loaded are we exactly to hardly find a way for God to tune in perfectly the stations of our Christian lives? Not long before, observing holy days set a variety of picks: go to this prayer meeting, attend this Pastor’s talk, be on this healing mass, enjoy the worship concerts (or we even picked all) – lately, too busy we are.

When I was still in the Philippines, a close friend of mine gave me a book “The Purpose Driven Life”. It is a book so many are slowly being touched I think. Students read it on jeepney rides and businessmen browse the pages inside café houses. I turned to the page that carries the question “What makes God smile?” The author enumerates few things. I want to focus on the last two.

First: God smiles when we praise and thank him personally. God loves it when praises and adoration are expressed for Him. We know very well that prayer is a way of praising and adoring God. Prayer is the way to His heart. Prayer, spoken or unspoken, brings miracles. Second: God smiles when we use our abilities. God wants us all to be the designed humans He made us to be – make love with your husbands and wives, plant crops and eat, watch this TV program, read books, go for a walk, play basketball. As the author puts it, “God said that it is time to get on with life”. Stated differently, do what is humane and wholesome.

Now we pondered how God has viewed our being individuals whose moment of stillness has not been so apparently fulfilled. The line “Be still, and know that I am God” really means, in its complete contemporary biblical setting, “Cease, relax, Shut Up! Spare time for me and know that I am God”. To bring this moment to perfection is in fact Saint Benedict’s perpetual prayer.

We characterize our lives with the words: doctor, computer programmer, professor, engineer, manager, designer, architect, accountant – all presuppose that accomplishment means doing. God smiles when we work. God smiles when we use the gifts of talents He conferred to us. As much as He wants us to laugh, to be ourselves and benefit from all His other creations, to enjoy every fraction of our existence in a sacramental manner, He also wants us to rest and pray.

Then we laze around in joy at what we have done, how we have prayed. This, we know, we believe, would make Him smile even more.