What Is Greatness, Anyway?

Very few dispute the goodness of Mother Theresa, but she is still not infallible. At least not semantically. Photo source: St. Josemaria Institute

Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.

—Mother Theresa

Maybe it’s the American Bias in me that makes me think all of us have the potential for greatness—whether or not we attain or even choose to pursue it. Maybe I have a semantic problem with the term “great things.”

What does that even mean? Does a thing have to affect millions or change the course of history to be “great”? Isn’t it a great thing if it changes only one person—no matter how transiently, even that person is yourself—for the better?

But I have no argument with the second sentence. We can all do small things with great love. Doing so should be a daily goal approached humbly and quietly. Wouldn’t that be great?

Food for Thought: Valentine’s Day Edition

This Valentines cake looks delicious.

Photo source: Peggy’s Cake Decorating Ideas

Appetizer: What is your strongest childhood memory about Valentine’s Day?

I remember making cards and exchanging candy hearts in elementary school. By the time fifth grade rolled along, it didn’t mean anything because we bought boxes of cheap little cards and the school required us to give them to everyone in the class.

Soup: Who was your first crush?

Tammy Z. was a cute little redhead I met in first grade. She was the most beautiful girl I had known at the time. I think I had a crush on her because her name was Tammy, and I liked the song from the movie. I can still hear Debbie Reynolds singing it in my head.

Salad: Did your crush return the feelings?

We talked, so I guess that’s probably a yes for first grade.

Entré: Other than the massacre, what does Valentine’s Day make you think of?

Suna. I think school killed the spirit of Valentine’s Day for me. And she’s the first person I’ve known since elementary school to whom it matters. And who makes it matter to me. Still, I think every day should be Valentine’s Day.

Dessert: What are you going to do for your Valentine this year?

Last weekend when her ex had the boys, I took her out to a nice dinner at Z-Tejas, and we picked out some patio furniture for the new front patio. I spent much of Saturday putting it together. Hopefully, we will enjoy it for years has we have drinks—iced tea, beer, something stronger—with the neighbors and watch the neighborhood go by.

Love

All beddian years are even. This is the beddian year for people born in 1954 and 2004. I won’t experience mine for a few more years.

It doesn’t matter whether he knows what he serves:

Who serves best doesn’t always understand.

—Czeslaw Milosz

Little things can touch people’s lives. This story of a beautiful (but simple) tribute made me a little misty.

NYC firefighter Bobbie Beddia spoke with artist Rhonda Shearer. He told her that he was very lucky because he was the same age as his birth year, 53. He said it was a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. Shearer thought it was a unique and clever observation. She suggested that he get with a mathematician to work out a proof. Unfortunately, he was killed fighting a fire later that afternoon.

A friend hers, physicist Richard Brandt, pointed out that the coincidence of birth year and age can only happen in even years. If you were born in an odd numbered year (say 1975), the sum of the two odd numbers (75+75) is an even number (2050). Suna and I will share this joyous year in 2016.

She contacted a freelance math writer Barry Cipra, who wrote a paper on what he dubbed the Beddian Year. He even and devised a formula to determine which population was larger: those who had attained their Beddian Year or those who had not. It’s not as simple as it sounds. People of different ages share the same Beddian Year. For example, this year is the Beddian Year for people who were born in 1956 and in 2004. There are probably more, but I’m not that good at math. (I lifted these years straight from the article.)

See how good things spread. I never met any of the people in this story, but the way they worked together to honor a friend really made my day. Do something nice for someone. The ripples spread across the pond.

References

• Doubletounged.org (19 February 2008). "Biddian year." Available: http://www.doubletongued.org/index.php/citations/beddian_year_1/
• Widdiecombe, Lizzie (12 November 2007). "A firefighter’s theorem." The New Yorker. Available: http://www.newyorker.com/talk/2007/11/12/071112ta_talk_widdicombe

Love is a Sweater

Everyone who sees my new sweater has to touch it. I don’t blame them. I love the way it feels.

Photo (and sweater) by Suna

Thanks to Saranda, I started an account on LibraryThing. LibraryThing lets you catalog and review the books in your collection, or simply those you have read. You have the option of keeping your reviews private, sharing them with various degrees of restriction on who can access them.

I have always been a cataloger, but I never built an index of my library for some reason. I like being able to access my obsession from anywhere I happen to be.

Grateful Monday

I missed Grateful Monday last week. So it’s a good thing that I have two things to be grateful for today. Now I can catch up on my gratefulness.

• On the home front:

Suna made me a wonderful sweater. It is so soft and warm and comfy. She finished the bulk of it on Thursday night. On Friday we bought five lovely buttons, only to find out that it had six button holes. So on Saturday, we bought five more of the blue-brown buttons that tie the sweater’s colors together so well. I wore it to work today, just to show it off. Thank you for the wonderful sweater, Suna.

• On the job front:

No really exciting news here, but the news Friday was good enough. When I took this contract, I was told that the funding would run out at the end of the fiscal year. That’s either this Friday or next. Now I had subsequently been told that they would probably extend the contract, but I haven’t heard anything definite about that yet.

So what’s the good news?, you’re probably thinking. Well, I had a brief conversation with my boss last Thursday. He told me that they really have enough funding to keep me working through the end of next month. We will have another conversation in mid February to let me know if he can justify (and, more importantly, get approval for) extending my contract for the duration of my eligibility. So it’s not a secure job, but it’s not the worst possibility, either.

I am grateful for any reprieve—no matter how fleeting.

Peaceful, Easy Feelin’

Nebulae are beautiful and mysterious, like the future.
Image Source: NASA

I know you won’t let me down

’Cause I’m already standin’ on the ground

—Jackson Browne

Grateful Monday

This is one of those days. I am in a whiney, grumpy mood. But this is Grateful Monday. So what do I have to be grateful for? Today, it is simply that Suna describes herself as “one big bundle of snooze!!!” Being in neutral is not a bad thing. I am even a little envious.

I am grateful for feeling OK about being in neutral. I am grateful for something Suna said a long time ago that is especially appropriate today.

I don’t expect our lives to be sweetness and light for the next few decades, but I also don’t see dismal failure. I see us dealing with what life brings us, together, with a solid foundation of love and respect (both)...We can take care of each other, please each other, and learn from each other.

That is what I am grateful for—that peaceful future.