Reading Chesterton's biography of St Francis in this silent hilltop cabin as I overlook Kachemak Bay and see several glaciers. I am in awe, speechless and delighted. These quotes stand out to me:
"Blessed is he who expecteth nothing, for he shall enjoy everything." It was by this deliberate idea of starting from zero, from the dark nothingness of his own deserts, that he did come to enjoy even earthly things as few people have enjoyed them; and they are in themselves the best working example of the idea. For there is no way in which a man can earn a star or deserve a sunset (or a panorama of glaciers!). But there is more than this involved, and more indeed than is easily expressed in words. It is not only true that the less a man thinks of himself, the more he thinks of his good luck and of all the gifts of God." (p. 75)
Rossetti makes the remark somewhere, bitterly but with great truth, that the worst moment for the atheist is when he is really thankful and has nobody to thank. (p. 78)
I remind you, as I am reminded, to see the beauty in front of you. Start from zero, and rejoice.
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