Motto:
“Ask, and it will be given to you, seek, and you will find, knock, and the door will be opened to you” (Matthew 7.7)
Jesus Christ
Offer before receiving!
Whoever is not content with a little is not worthy of more, either. (Romanian Proverb)
The more we get, the better we notice what we lack. In a certain sense, this perseverance for “more” is good, but how far and in which sense, more precisely?
A newly ordained priest speaks with his spiritual adviser. He says to him: “Father, I have followed all that is necessary to become a priest, but I lack all I need to be a good priest: my love for God, my love for what is surrounding me, my pleasure and desire to serve, I am not worthy of being in charge of a parish”. And his mentor says to him: “Act as if you already had all these things and you will acquire them”… and so did the priest.
In one year, acting as though he already had all of these, he acquired them step by step. So, here is the power of generosity and the idea of “the gift that keeps on giving” and “to give away of what you do not have”, i.e., whenever you don’t have something you need or want, to offer that something to someone and you will become worthy as well. Thus, a way of receiving is to … keep giving … even what you don’t have. And this is where the mission of this website resides, I think, not only to pass on links with cute stories but remind us that the world is better since we’ve been living in it and that no effort is too insignificant when it comes to bringing more light into the world.
And keeping in mind that idea from “Schindler’s List” according to which “he who saves a life, saves the whole world,” I cannot help but think that the idea according to which Schindler, through the way he has marked so many lives and employing his way of thinking, was brilliant in its own way. A Romanian saying says: “Trust in God and tie your horses.”
How do you ask for
“Happiness does not mean getting what you want, but loving what you have.”
Chinese Proverb
Each of us has plans, dreams, ideals, and interests that each applies as best as (s)he can. But I wonder if we could have all these achievements without the help of God. Jesus Christ said, “Without Me, you can do nothing,” and “Whatever you will ask of Father in My name, I will do.”
We ask for what we want as if we were entitled to it, sometimes forgetting to be thankful for what we have or not thinking that it “could be worse”. We find it normal to receive, but sometimes from Whom we receive, we fail to believe we deserve as much as we think. “Every word of God is good, and nothing is so bad if it is taken with gratitude”, says Paul the Apostle. That’s why not everything we receive unexpectedly, even difficulties, represents or should represent reasons for stumbling through life. It is never too late to learn, and the tests, complications, and problems to which man is subject mean there is still the possibility of winning. The exams of life teach us that we still have something to prove.
“What? We receive good from God, and shouldn’t we also receive evil?” Job said. Let’s learn from him!
He who prays must pray in the hope of receiving. Therefore, the faithful request prayer is, in fact, a thank-you prayer because when we ask God for something, already knowing that, by how we pray, we will receive it, the meaning of the request prayer turns into a thank-you one.
Humbleness before wisdom
“Call me on the day of your tribulation, and I will take you out, and you will glorify Me” (Ps. 49, 16).
Once, a very faithful and wise man had a vision in a dream, i.e., going to a remote little town because there was someone out there to learn something from. Unfortunately, our man got somewhat confused about what he learned from the world’s most extraordinary wise men. So he went there and sought a wise person from whom he could learn something but found that it was a place of perdition and indulgence. He simply didn’t understand how it made sense to know anything there.
And just as he was about to leave, a young woman, a prostitute in a brothel, saw that he was feeling uneasy and asked if she could help him with anything; he said no because he was just about to leave. However, the woman insisted and told him it was late, and he couldn’t walk around then, so she offered to accommodate him that evening.
Our wise man told her about his disappointment of not having found somebody learned, and she didn’t know anyone who would fit his description. Before he left, however, the wise man asked the woman why her legs bled, and she replied that she was hammering nails into the soles of her shoes to remind herself that what she was doing to support her child was a deadly sin; the man was surprised by that woman’s humbleness and realized that wisdom was not finite, and the most precious things to be learned in life may often be in possession of unknown people who may be right next to us…
Gratitude towards others
“The unhappy one lives unhappily.”
Romanian proverb
All those who find themselves in festive situations and must thank in short, when receiving a prize for achievements, think of their family, relatives, colleagues, financiers, sponsors, supporters, and other collaborators, but how many have you heard of thanking God?
The question remains. Do not hurry to answer. The answer must be given to yourself. One of the disadvantages of life is that this answer is never enough – or should not be.
So, I’m asking you, the reader of this article, to pass on a list of things you’ve learned from less famous people, whether alive or gone. You can think of all the things you have learned from those who are still among us or not, from those who have had a bit of wisdom, because the more you give, the more you will receive! I am convinced that there is a balance in the universe that assures this, even if not during our earthly life, for some…
A dialogue between 2 small children
-This world has become much better than 5 years ago …
-How can you say that? Look at how many wars, unkindness, and terror there are in the world! Aren’t you watching TV? How can you say that the world is much better?
–Well, I have been in this world for 5 years… I thank God for having created me in His own image and likeness.
Copyright © Marcus Victor Grant 2002-present. Translation by Cristiana Brezeanu of the article “Cum să creezi o lume mai bună prin “mulţumesc“, which was previously published in Romanian on September 7th, 2014, on Discerne. Copyright © Marcus Victor Grant, all rights reserved. The original material was written in 2002.
The materials published on this blog are covered and subjected to this disclaimer.
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