DB#452 - A Simple Rubber Band
Wouldn’t you love to have a life without stress, gossip and complaints? In this episode I start an experiment: live 21 days without complaining. The magic tool? A simple rubber band.
Links:
- Silent Procession Amsterdam (English website)
- Where in the world is Osama Bin Laden?
Oh, it’s going to be a good month for me
Father — if you want to know why some people are leaving the Curch just feast your eyes on some of the blog comments from this article:http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2008/03/10/2008-03-10_pope_identifies_7_new_sins_including_pol.html
People are truly hurting out there and blaming everything on the failures the Church has experienced.
What a wonderful idea! I could practise this morning already. If you heard the Dutch news you probably heard we had no drinking water in the city of Groningen and villages nearby. Here we had to wait until noon or so to have it back. Now we have to boil our water for 2 minutes before it’s drinkable due to contamination.
I wanted to start complaining about it, but realised God was showing me that I mustn’t take clean drinking water that’s running from the tap on demand for granted. It was a very humbling experience and instead of complaining, I feel grateful for all the riches God gives us, like the best drinking water quality in the world.
Father, did you get any photos of the Stille Omgang?
@Terry: I didn’t take my camera with me.
You can see some pictures here:
Pictures Stille Omgang 2008
And a video impression here:
Video impression Stille Omgang 2008
I have one of those No Complaint wristbands! I teach upper elementary school music, and I explained to my classes that I couldn’t complain, be mean, or sarcastic. One student said, “well, that is your whole personality!” I think I needed the bracelet!!! It was a good project for me.
I heard an interview recently with someone who has left the Church. Raised Catholic, Ingrid Mattson is now the leader of the Islamic Society of North America. She was interviewed by Krista Tippett on her podcast, “Speaking of Faith.” When asked about her conversion, Mrs. Mattson said that she met some North Africans and was drawn to their evident joy, generosity,and peaceful spirit in the midst of poverty and discrimination:”There was a spirit in them that I found very attractive and I was drawn to them and wanted to spend more time with them and understand what was the secret of this character that was, to me, very different and very profound.”
She is obviously very happy in her conversion and one must wish her well, but as a Catholic Christian it seemed very sad to me that she didn’t find that spirit of peace and generosity in her fellow Christians. It reminds me that every day we are, in that well-worn phrase, “ambassadors for Christ.”
Mrs. Mattson also gave me the impression that, at least at the time of her conversion, she was not aware of the rich tradition of contemplative prayer in the Christian tradition, since she seemed very impressed by the meditative quality of the Islamic prayer that she witnessed.
In any case, it was a fascinating interview, as all of Krista Tippett’s interviews are. I was immediately reminded of it when you spoke of wondering why people leave the Church.
Father,
2,85 euro per meal? How do you manage that? I think I overspent on groceries but I don’t see how I can come up with a satisfying meal every day with so little money
I’ll be doing the “no complaining rubberband” too. Good luck Rod Father!
@Jaap: I posted eight tips on my Dutch blog, katholiekleven.nl:
http://katholiekleven.wordpress.com/2008/02/28/kun-je-leven-van-e-285-per-dag-acht-tips/
It’s all about making the right choices in the supermarket, planning ahead and focussing on the essential.
Last week, I even had 2 euros left in my budget
Not to complain… Your caller from Arizona (?) who talked about Florida traffic is right. He wasn’t complaining. He was telling the truth. I’ve lived here 15 years and the traffic is different. Maybe it is because everyone is from somewhere else.
Your “No complaint” project is an outstanding idea and one worth trying. Thanks for all your ideas to simplify and sanctify your life (and ours)!!
I can do the no complaining, but the no sarcasm… sometimes I think i love off sarcasm.
Well I’ve been trying it out, and it’s been a slow start, but generally I think even not allowing myself to complain for 2 hours seems to make me happier.