Free Gifts

So many of the best things in life truly are free. Like a walk in the country...with a sea of blue sky and rolling fields all around you, gentle sunshine caressing your cheek, and a tranquil, soft breeze stirring the green grasses. To hear nothing but the call and song of birds and the whisper of the wind, to pluck a stem of pearly lilacs and drink in their rich perfume. As I walked along on Sunday, I was struck anew with the truth of the the phrase, "the best things in life are free".

And what about the gift which makes me who I am? Is not Faith a free gift also? I was given a renewal of this gift in a most poignant way as on Monday I celebrated 18 years of being a child of God. That's right...18 years ago May 8th, a tiny soul was made bright, a tiny heart filled with grace as the waters of Baptism were poured over the head of a little baby. That little baby was me. And just six years later, on the very same day, that little girl was privileged to receive her Lord - Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity - into her heart and soul as she made her First Holy Communion. Quite a Sacramental Day, May 8th (incidentally, the same day as Saint Therese the Little Flower received her First Holy Communion!). A day of gifts. Free gifts. Gifts I don't deserve. But gifts I am truly thankful for, nonetheless.

Now stop for just a moment. Push aside the complaints, the worries, the dissatisfactions. They occupy far too much of our attention, anyway. We're so quick to run to God when we "need" something, and forget about Him when all is well. Yet He continues to shower us with gifts, even when we're so wrapped up in our problems that we fail to notice them. When was the last time you noticed and thanked God for one of His gifts? That's the least we can do. After all, they're free.