Life is Beautiful

I know that this life on earth, the one that begins and ends in about a heartbeat, is not the one we're supposed to be concerned with--that the only important thing about the life we lead here in this world is how well it will prepare us to meet God and begin our true lives with Him in the next, the lives that are without end.  And I know how imperfect planet earth is: all you have to do is watch one episode of the evening news and you'll see that there is no such thing as paradise down here in the earthly world.

But life is beautiful, too--achingly, poignantly beautiful.  And just when you think there is no good left on our beleaguered planet, when you wonder how your children (and their children, and their children) will ever be able to navigate the path to their eternal home with God, surrounded as they are by the world's evil and Godlessness, misery and pain...you get a glimpse of Heaven.

I live for such moments.  And one of my sons gave it to me a couple of days ago.

Our second oldest son is living in an "apartment" in our basement right now.  A high school math teacher and coach, he moved in just before the start of the school year and plans to stay until next summer.  With his rent about to increase significantly and a new car to pay for, he was feeling a bit financially strapped; we offered to give him a way to save, by temporarily moving back in with dear old mom and dad, and he took us up on our offer.  I don't have to tell you how great it is to have one of my chicks back in the nest, even for a little while.  He has an hour-long commute to work early each morning, and with football practices and games that run well into the evening, we often don't see him again until 8:00 or 9:00 at night (and sometimes later).  But we see him a lot more than we did when he was living in an apartment an hour away from here.  And this is a treat, because when it comes to our sons, we'll take any precious moments we can get with them--wherever we can, whenever we can.

Anyway, I've probably mentioned before that for many years, we said a family Rosary every day with our boys.  The practice dropped off when the older ones got into high school and got bogged down with sports and homework, and it became increasingly harder to get them all together at one time. But son #2 has decided that he wants to start praying a Rosary on his daily commute to work.  His dad was in Ireland on a trip the other day, and he had one special request: he wanted the old man to bring back a Rosary from the Olde Sod, one with beads made of Connemara marble.

That's the glimpse of Heaven I was alluding to: in a world where Faith is lost on a daily basis and Catholic parents bemoan the fact that their grown children no longer attend Mass, our son's Faith remains intact--in fact, his dearest wish is to have a new Rosary to use on his daily commute.  I feel like I'm on a cloud, I'm so happy about this.

I was not able to relay my son's request for an Irish-made Rosary when my husband was on his last trip, because our usual FaceTime call didn't happen (something about an epic afternoon nap and a groggy lady who forgot to bring her iPhone back downstairs with her when she regained consciousness).  But he's off to Shannon again today, and hopefully he'll be able to fulfill this beautiful wish for our son.

Life is short.  So I think we need to savor moments like these when they happen.  I think we need to break out the good china for no reason at all, simply because it's beautiful.

(BTW, How do you like my "new" English-made transferware cup and saucer?  I got three sets yesterday at Goodwill, for $1.99 apiece.  And I'm using one today, because even drinking your morning coffee ought to be a beautiful experience!)

And obviously, we need to pray lots of Rosaries.

God bless you and yours, today and always.  Siochain!