The Virtue of Gratitude

In a 2007 interview of JK Rowling I recently watched on YouTube, from her peak as the Deathly Hallows book was being released (note to self: never tie up all the important loose ends, leave the reader wanting more which they do want, and never make my books into movies, for it distracts from the imagination and authenticity of the original...) anyway, in that JK Rowling interview, she was asked several direct questions by the TV host, in which one of them was about the virtue she most admired, and she drew the connection in her motivation for writing with "courage", a value which I myself downplay because of its injustices from time to time, but her take on the virtue was that of a tool against injustice, not of blatant blind action but of knowing full well right from wrong and acting with consequence in mind as being a sacrifice. In my reaction, I agree to a small extent because Jesus was quoted to say that there is no greater love than to give one's life for a friend. But to that same end I elaborate that it is truly love and the selfless side of love in particular which is the focus of this quote--not the word choice of courage which I would choose to use, but that of the virtue of selflessness and thus being generous to the point of sacrifice and palanca, a key to our ministry in the Cursillo, in which prayer and suffering are a blessing by our taking action in spite of consequence for the sake of another's well being (and for God's intent on us doing so is in part our act of faith).

Which makes selflessness my most admired virtue...but which is attained through positive habit of thought, words, action, and inaction, which are all the decisions that count toward our giving faith or failing and sinning, in our struggle toward Grace.

The positive thought which helps keep me focused on God as the focus, the central deciding factor, is gratitude through noticing our enjoyable parts of every moment whatever that moment may be, which not only gets us through the hardest moments, but which gives us a reason to live, helps us keep on the direction of moving toward our purposeful dreams, and which is meditative prayer in action as we continue through living.

Martin Luther King Jr. in his "I Have A Dream" speech was perhaps ground breaking at the time, but since I was born afterwards the definition of dreamer was already set in place by his words and influence. The definition of dreamer in his time before the speech may have been one who is in a state of sleepiness in the world, one who is living in non-reality, but MLK Jr. defined in his speech for us a way to look at the dream. That way is in the heritage of the prophetic dream. That way is to look at having a dream out of wanting it really bad, not just the subconscious wandering but of foretelling that it will be by destiny because it HAS to be, so strong are the roots in right versus wrong and justice versus injustice and needs that we as humans must act to make possible solutions come to be enacted.

To Dreamers, the time is to visualize your true calling, that of a world in which we have faith and transform (Christianize and show the value of love not hate) all of our environments. The dream will be.