Fresh Paint, Fresh Attitude

I had a very quiet duty day on the ship today, during an already quiet week through a holiday stand-down period. We’ve got a lot of random work to accomplish during this time, including a lot of cleaning, painting, and catching up on admin. I had spent the day doing some organizing, stood the afternoon watch, and relaxed after dinner. I went topside to make some phone calls, wishing family and friends a happy new year. It’s a cold, wet, foggy night, as the blurry haze of the holiday lighting from ships all along the waterfront glowed around me. I went back to my stateroom to watch football when I had a knock on my door. It was one of my sailors, who came excitedly to tell me that he’d finished repainting one of our spaces. I asked immediately if he’d show me his work, and we headed down to the space. As we walked there, he proudly spoke of all the details of his work, and as we got to the shop, it was clean and perfectly painted. He pointed out many particulars of what he did, and how he was careful and paid very close attention to details. His enthusiasm and pride in his work was astounding, and his positive attitude was extremely encouraging. I too was filled with pride to know that he was one of my sailors, who is a particularly hard worker and was taking ownership of his accomplishments. If only everyone took such joy in their work, no matter how mundane or ordinary. It really inspired me, and it was a nice way to end my 2009.

If I’ve learned anything this year, it’s that life is all about the details. While we tend to focus on really “big” moments in our lives as we reminisce about the past, the reality is that most of our lives are spent doing routine, ordinary things. You can even look at the life of our Lord Jesus Christ. He spent the first 30 years of His life doing normal, everyday tasks—it was only the last three years of His life that He began His public ministry and did the many “great things” we read about in the Gospels—preaching, healing, curing, saving. And this is true for us, too. Most of our life is filled with the plain, the normal, the ordinary, the routine. And while those words can have a negative or boring connotation, especially in our society so fascinated and motivated by the extreme and outrageous, it is in these ordinary things of life that we can come face-to-face with virtue, with good works, with holiness, with greatness. As I’ve written about before, there is so much sanctity to be had, right here in the present moment, right here among the ordinary. As a Christian and as a Catholic, I can live each moment, each instance in my life, wholly dedicated to the glory of God. Every day, every action, every moment. And when you live every moment for God’s greater glory, you bring sanctity to even the most ordinary things of life. When you live every moment for God, you bring dignity and worth to every task. Everything is worth doing if it is being done for God—in fact, everything is worth doing well when being done for God. This is what I have come to understand this past year, and this revelation has changed my life.

Praised be Jesus Christ, and to Him be all glory and honor and thanksgiving, for a wonderful and holy 2009. I pray that He continue to reveal His will to me in each moment, that I grow in charity and fidelity, and that He send His abundant blessings upon this new year. Happy 2010!


“Do you really want to be a saint? Carry out the little duty of each moment: do what you ought and put yourself into what you are doing.”
~Saint Josemaria Escriva