Today Alleluia Boy and I ran some errands, and we ran into an old friend working at one of the stores we were visiting. I asked him how it was going, and he said, "Every day is a good day...some are just better than others."
I was really struck by that line -- what a positive attitude! And how true, especially if we have ever had a brush with a perspective-changing crisis (cancer, a brush with death, etc.). This particular friend -- I will call him Joe -- is someone we met at the local Catholic Worker houses years ago. At first he was a guest, then a regular at evening hospitality. We still see him there and around town about once a week. Our friendship has grown gradually, as has our admiration for him. Without going into the gory details (which actually I am a little fuzzy on anyway), he has really come through quite a lot in terms of personal crises. For a while there, his life seemed like it could go either way.
Today, he's doing so well, no one at this major big box retailer would ever guess anything about his past history. In fact, he's one of the kindest, considerate, generous, gracious, cheerful people I know. He rides bike everywhere, I think because his license got revoked a while back and he never bothered to get it again, but you will never hear him complain, not even in the worst weather. He is also very gentle -- he reads "Winnie the Pooh" to our girls -- despite being very athletic (he did a triathlon last year). He is working in a good, upwardly mobile position, and makes his time with his teenage son (also a great person) an absolute priority.
He's just one of the many people we've been privileged to call friends as a result of our time at the Catholic Worker.
The photo up top? Totally unrelated -- Alleluia Boy taking a bath -- but it seemed to fit the theme: "Every day is a good day!"
(Also, I fixed the video of Starling singing "Bless the Lord" with the girls, two posts back.)
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