Advent waiting can transform the heart

By Mary Regina Morrell
Catholic Online

"A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken." KJV Proverbs 15:13

Hosting a big party at your home brings with it many unanticipated challenges.

We had a few this past week as we prepared for an engagement party in our home with some 50 guests.

The day before the party, as my husband was grilling hamburgers for dinner, he asked, "Remember those chocolate macaroons I bought for the party?"

"Yes," I answered wryly, knowing some strange tale was about to follow.

"Well, they're a little . . . um . . . barbecued."

"Barbecued??" This was one I never expected.

"Yeah, but you can still use the top layer. They should be fine."

I guess the expression on my face demanded more explanation so he went on to say that he had put the macaroons and the carrot cake in the barbecue grill the day before to keep them cold while protecting them from the occasional raccoon that would show up for dinner.

Forgetting his decision, he lit the grill and while waiting for it to get hot he noticed smoke pouring out from inside.

He ran to open the lid and there sat the cake and cookies, both inside of sadly misshapened and seriously blackened plastic containers.

"Frank, I don't think it would be a wise idea to try and rescue some barbecued macaroons and feed them to 50 guests. Plastic is not meant to be eaten."

I had to laugh at the varied perceptions that make us different.

He figures why waste the whole $10 by throwing all the cookies away. I think why take a chance for $10.

Needless to say, there were no macaroons or carrot cake at the party.

But in spite of our unique ways of looking at things, the one thing we can usually agree on is the need to keep a sense of humor. Life is filled with enough real tragedy, enough serious challenges and burdens without adding to it unnecessarily by making minutia into mountains.

Still, dealing with day to day frustrations, disappointments and even some crises, requires more than the ability to joke. It requires a steadfastness of heart and trust in God that creates a positive attitude, an attitude of gratitude for the many blessings that remain even beyond the burdens.

Martha Washington once wrote, "I have learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions and not on our circumstances."

My father taught me this by his own life - raised during the depression, his dad murdered when he was only seven, having to quit school at 12 to work and support his mother, denied many things we would take for granted - still his whole life was framed by gratitude and an abiding cheerfulness born of a peaceful heart.

Not everyone is as blessed as he, but everyone is given the opportunity to change.

Advent is a powerful time to reflect on the need.

As Father Edward Hayes wrote in his spiritual classic, A Pilgrim's Almanac, "Advent is the perfect time to clear and prepare the Way. Advent is a winter training camp for those who desire peace. By reflection and prayer, by reading and meditation, we can make our hearts a place where a blessing of peace would desire to abide and where the birth of the Prince of Peace might take place."

Contact

Diocese of Metuchen
http://www.diometuchen.org NJ, US
Mary Regina Morrell - Associate Director, Office of Religious Education, 732 562-1990

Email

mmorrell@diometuchen.org

Keywords

advent, transform, heart, disposition

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