Living Actively and Courageously

What do you do when sickness presides over your life?

In his book, “Anatomy Of An Illness,” author Norman Cousins, tells of his visit with master cellist Pablo Casals, 90.

He describes Casals’ routine every morning:

“He arranged himself with some difficulty on the piano bench, then with discernible effort raised his swollen and clenched fingers above the keyboard ... the fingers slowly unlocked and reached toward the keys like the buds of a plant toward the sunlight. His back straightened. He seemed to breathe more deeply ... He hummed as he played, then said that Bach spoke to him here - and placed his hand over his heart. Then he plunged into a Brahms concerto and his fingers, now agile and powerful, raced across the keyboard with dazzling speed. His entire body seemed fused with the music; it was no longer stiff and shrunken but supple and graceful and completely freed of its arthritic coils.”

Courage. Will to live. Effort. Active choice. Day by day. As much as the body allows, we stretch it to make life good for us, no matter the difficulties.

During this Coronavirus pandemic, we are all tested. We find ourselves in a state of being cut from what once was normal, our self.

There can be no slackening of attention. There can be no discouragement to disable us to overcome challenges.

We press on. We realize every gift we possess, little though it may be. We use each ability we have acquired. 

Live actively and courageously under all circumstances. And make the most of the moments of life given to us even amid illness or limitation.

Be “strong in the broken places,” as Ernest Hemingway would put it.

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