Today it was cold, windy, rainy and dark. I thought these kinds of days were behind us. But as with life, not so good days always pop up and we need to be ready. As the Boy Scouts say we need to “Be Prepared.” Two ways that helps me to be prepared for the sunny or dark days of life are attitude of gratitude and keeping a sense of humor.

Most nights when I go to bed I feel a sense of gratitude. No matter what kind of day I had the ‘attitude of gratitude’ is in my heart. This is a blessing God gave me through the poor and ill friends that I have made the last ten years when I was not working for pay. After I made a charitable admonishment today to a friend, who suffers from a mental illness, he paid me a compliment by telling me how unique a friend I have been to him over the last eight or so years. No matter what he does or does not do, no matter if I approve or not of his actions I remain his close and good friend, he claims.

Another way to make it through dark and dreary days is having a sense of humor. A friend, who passes on my writings to Catholic Workers, usually refers to me as a member of the Milwaukee 14, a nonviolent action against the draft system that took place almost 47 years ago. On a recent email I wrote back, I thought humorously, asking what was the Milwaukee 14. He took my remark seriously since I am not known to have a great sense of humor. However, as I wrote in my posting the other night, Face Death and Laugh, the awareness of death that came to me, five years ago with the death of my youngest son, has stayed with me and I find it everywhere, war, on the streets and in the “War Against the Poor.” A sense of humor is necessary to survive living and still remain feeling.

There was not much observation is this observation of life, except for the observation of myself. Oh well, they say self-examination can be a good thing. Thank God and thank you for helping me live a humorous thanksgiving.

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