You can only balance a feather on the tip of your nose if you are content to remain still. But I am not, and if I lack the poise for want of patience, so be it.
Here are a few observations:
- Sometimes I think that the people who are paid least should be paid most. Ex.: toll-takers on the expressway or manual laborers. To my mind, the work they do is harder than the work of many high-paid professionals sitting in air-conditioned offices. This is because their work demands a high cost of (a) tedium or (b) physical exertion—and those things are difficult to bear. Yes, I know that all the hours of training and study needed to become a lawyer or banker or whatever exact their own cost, but for a girl with a very low tolerance for boredom (and a middling tolerance for physical strain), hitting the books is a relative joy.
- Sinning is a punch in the gut. It has a reflexive badness: it hurts the sinner just as much as it hurts anyone else. I’ve put this to the test before. Doing something you know in advance to be unequivocally wrong—despite any complicated motivations justifying the action—is like sticking your finger in an electrical socket. Zap! Your nerves are frayed and you get all jittery and sick to your stomach.
- Sinning is also a drag because, if you’re Catholic, you end up refraining from the Communion line until you can go to Confession. Add this separation from the Eucharist to the finger-zapping nausea of observation (2) and it’s clear that sin just isn’t worth it.
- I like when people respond to “Thank you” with “You’re welcome.” This may sound stupid to point out, but it’s less straightforward than you’d surmise. Keep an ear out for a while and listen to the ways “Thank you”s are returned. Usually it’s with a “Sure” or a “No problem” or an “Uh-huh.” By comparison, “You’re welcome” shocks me with its simple appropriateness. It acknowledges (as “No problem” does not) the effort put into a good deed and accepts the thanks without fanfare or dispute.
- The phenomenon of Christians feeling at ease around other Christians? I don’t think it’s simply a matter of finding people who share similar values and traditions as you. (Although of course this contributes to the camaraderie.) I think it’s more like the discovery of a mutual friendship that makes you feel connected, that makes the world feel a little smaller. But instead of: “Oh, you know Joe? I adore him! He’s a great pal of mine!”—it’s “Ah, you know Jesus?! He and I go way back. What a coincidence!” (I’m sure the same thing applies to people sharing other religious traditions, too.)
- Don’t underestimate the value of being kind. I used to believe kindness was a small thing, but it is not.