The Diocese
Posted: 02/19/2025
"Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." — Psalm 90:12
David Ramirez, an Altadena resident who lost his home to the Eaton Fire, recently published an article in The New York Times entitled "My Home Is on Fire. My Home Is on Fire." These were the words of his beloved wife as she watched their home ablaze. In a deeply emotional personal account, David writes about how he began to realize the difference between a house and a home while watching his own place burn.
I thought it was a brutal way to learn something that seems so simple and essential. Why must someone learn life’s lessons the hard way? Why does someone need to lose their house only to realize that it was a repository of cherished memories?
As chaplains and clergy, we often speak about the importance of appreciating the small things in life - noticing the beauty that surrounds us: the birds, the trees, the flowers, the crisp air, the sounds. After years of preaching and being preached to about the obvious, I thought I had learned this lesson - until I met a young man receiving cancer treatment at AHGL. The lesson he taught me, I will never forget. He said:
"When I was young, I thought the entire world was against me, and I had to fight for everything. I had to be tough and fierce to win. Today, the only fight I have left is one of love and forgiveness. I just want to go home from here and enjoy every second of my life with my family -sit on the couch, watch TV, share food, and just be - because the love and care I receive is priceless, and there is nothing more valuable than that."
I am sharing this message with you because, indeed, life is too precious. We don’t need to walk the journey of suffering and loss to understand this. No one deserves to lose a house to realize it was home. No one deserves to face a life-threatening illness to appreciate the small things in life.
As we continue our day, may we be more self-aware, appreciative, gentle, forgiving, loving, and caring, for God’s gift of life is greater than anything.
Lord,
Teach us to cherish the moments we have,
To see beauty in the most unexpected places,
And to acknowledge the love that surrounds us.
May we learn to appreciate the small things in life the easy way,
Without having to walk the road of pain and suffering.
Fill our hearts with gratitude,
Our actions with kindness,
And our words with love. Amen.
