Birthday Article

It is good to be thankful for what you have in lifeand what you have accomplished. But I must open myeyes to the larger picture. If I am  to appreciatethe fruits of life, I must first appreciate the treethat bears the fruit: birth itself.Birth is my beginning. It is a window to thechance of a lifetime, the chance to fulfill myunique mission. So a birthday is a momentousoccasion to be commemorated just as a nationcommemorates its birth or as an organizationcelebrates its founding. Still, it is much more thanan occasion to receive gifts. It is a chance toremember the day that a major event occurred, tocelebrate and give thanks and to reflect upon howwell I am fulfilling my calling.Because time itself is like a spiral, somethingspecial happens on our birthday each year: Thesame energy that God invested in us at birth ispresent once again. It is our duty to be receptiveto that force. How do we do so? By committing toa life guided by God's will, and by using theabilities and resources we were born with toperfect ourselves and society, and to make theworld a good and sacred home for God.A birthday is a time to celebrate birth itself, thejoy of life. It is also an occasion to rethink yourlife: How great is the disparity between what Ihave accomplished and what I can accomplish?Am I spending my time properly or am I involvedin things that distract me from my higher calling?How can I strengthen the thread that connects myouter life and my inner life?A birthday can also teach us the concept ofrebirth. To recall our birth is to recall a newbeginning. No matter how things went yesterday,or last year, we always have the capacity to tryagain. Our birthday is a refresher, a chance forregeneration--not just materially, but spiritually.On birthdays, gather with family and friendsand study something meaningful together.There is no better way to celebrate a birthdaythan to commit a special act of goodness. It iseasy enough to say you are thankful; it is farbetter to show it by doing a kind deed, somethingthat you did not do yesterday. Not becausesomeone is forcing you. Not because someonesuggests it. But simply because your innergoodness, your soul, wants to express its thanksfor being born and alive.Such an act of kindness gives God great pleasure,because He sees that the child in whom Heinvested, the particular child he wanted to beborn on a particular day, is living up to itspotential. And nothing, of course, gives a parentgreater joy. This is the true experience of birth,the true beginning of a life of meaning.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME....