Appreciating those great moments of good fortune

Below is the 'Thinking Anew' column in today's Irish Times.

Michael Commane
On my way to work recently I spotted a neighbour walking to his car with a baby basket. His wife was going to hospital to have their second child.

He did not notice that I was watching him. But he stopped me in my tracks. There he was, getting ready for his new-born child.

No doubt he was in a state of excitement, nervous too I can imagine. But in that momentary glance I got of him, it dawned on me what good fortune had befallen on this couple. Some days earlier they had told me that the baby was overdue. Obviously the moment had come.

Maybe it has something to do with growing older, maybe even growing wiser that one becomes more conscious of the moments of good fortune that we experience.

And just as I write this, I'm wondering if I’m using the right words. One billion on this planet are starving. More than 100,000 people have been killed in war in Syria, tens of thousands have fled their homes. Innocent people have suffered indescribable pain, losing limbs in the chaos and savagery of what is happening in Syria.

At my own hall door I have friends who are seriously ill, I see people whose lives are blighted as a result of poverty, lack of education, abuse of alcohol, violence.
One might simply say, the way of the world.

In tomorrow's Gospel, Luke 17: 11 - 19, we see how 10 lepers experience the healing hand of Jesus and just one comes back to say thank you.

And oddly enough the one who comes back is a Samaritan, in other words, an outsider, someone not considered to be important or of any worth or value.

This Gospel stops me in my step and does two things: it reminds me of the importance of appreciating our good fortune and it also tempts me to be more open and imaginative in seeing and experiencing the grace and good fortune that we see and live every day of our lives.

And even for people who are afflicted with the most indescribable pain and suffering there are moments and occasions, which allow them to appreciate the good things of life. No matter how great our pain or suffering is we manage to get up, dust ourselves down and get on with life. But we need reminders from time to time to appreciate the simplest of things that touch our lives.

I bow my head to my great fortune in being introduced in my youth to walking and cycling the hills of Ireland.

Last week I walked in Wicklow, skirting around the side of Lough Dan. The beauty of the place is breathtaking. But to take a stroll in a park, walk through a field, to watch a bird on a chimney, a child playing on the road, people laughing on a footpath, can be awe-inspiring.

Every day, right in front of our eyes, we are surrounded by great beauty. It's a question of having the right eyes to see it. Dare we call it God's handiwork?

Of course for most of us our everyday lives can from time to time be filled with grey, dark and foreboding clouds.

It's probably an attitude of mind that we need to develop to be able to see the wonder of creation, the wonder of life, the presence of God in the world.

Later on the day that I saw the man heading with the baby basket to his car I said to a work colleague what a miserable day it was. The young man replied, "It's only miserable if you are miserable".

All I could do was smile, agree with him and realise how easy it is to write fine ideas. But he did stop me in my track. Another moment of grace to direct me to the wonder and presence of God.

By the way, they had a baby boy.