Br. John Thomas Fisher, O.P., on the Gift of Being

"If something is truly good, it's better when it actually exists. I don't think it's controversial to say, then, that existence is good. Simple example: fried chicken, collard greens, and craft beer are good things, even if only in my mind, but it's much better if they truly exist on the dinner table tonight.

"Enjoying certain goods presupposes the existence of the one partaking in the good thing, so it seems that our individual act of existing can be the easiest good to take for granted. I posit that we learn to appreciate the fact that we're alive only when we are given time to rest. In fact, I think that's one reason among the many that God gave us the Sabbath in the first place: to quiet down and consider the value of simply being. . . .

"Billions of years ago, while the created universe was in its infancy, the Maker of space and time knew that at a given point, in one small solar system of a particular galaxy, on a small planet at an acceptable distance from its sun to sustain mass varieties of life, on a little trail tucked away in what would come to be known as Virginia, with blistered feet and mud-caked boots, one young, exhausted friar would have to stop on top of a giant rock in pure admiration of his surroundings. Struck by the beauty of creation, my uselessness to it, and its uselessness to me, no amount of time seemed appropriate to attempt to take it al.'"

In a recent commentary, Brother John Thomas Fisher, O.P., reflected on the gift of being and on one's response to this gift.

To access Br. John Thomas' complete post, please visit:

Dominicana: The Gift of Being (23 APR 15)