“The search for pleasure at all cost.”

I lifted the following from the Catholic Times this morning.

“The joy that Christians experience-- even in the midst of worldly woes-- can be
seen in the lives of the faithful, the Holy Father said. As a vivid example he
offered the witness of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who "experienced the trial of
the dark night of faith, yet she continued to give everyone the smile of God."
No such joy can be found in the lives of those who "idolize happiness," the
Pope continued. Unfortunately, he remarked, that tendency is ever more powerful
today, in "the search for pleasure at all costs." The results, he said, are
evident in "the increasing use of drugs as an escape, a refuge in an artificial
paradise which is subsequently revealed as merely illusory."

“The search for pleasure at all cost.” Pleasure, personal option, does not have a price tag. It is those thing that we do for others that can not be repaid. I was taken by surprise last week as I was sitting in Wal Mart enjoying a cup of coffee and people watching. As a lady drop a small item I called this to her attention. Another stranger stopped looked at the dropped item laying there on the floor and picked it up. The lady stopped with a strange look on her face. My next words started and avalanche of the same, “Marry Christmas.” It seemed to spread for person to person.
The gift we give to a stranger not a physical gift, but that of a kind action or word. These are the truer gifts of the season. Because He came and gave us the same. A kind word, “Go in peace.” A simple action, “He broke the beard.” Let us go and do likewise.

Mervi