How About Some God with your Commute?

After the month I've experienced I've really been reflecting on being grateful for the blessings in my life. Recently, I've lost my Great Aunt, had a pretty significant financial blow, my mom has been in the emergency room and (the pièce de résistance, if you will) my car's last wheel leg is giving out. Now, I can be cynical but overall I try to keep on the "sunny side" because that black hole is just not how I want to live, but I digress. Anyway, after attempting to get back "in the swing of things" I realize that keeping on the "sunny side" is going to take a little more than will power so Tuesday, on my 1st public transportation commute (in Fort Worth) home, I stumbled upon several podcasts from "Catholic Stuff You Should Know" and the 40 Martyrs of Sebaste caught my eye. 


Martyrdom by Freezing

Via Wikipedia - Forty Martyrs of Sebaste

The Forty Martyrs of Sebaste were a group of Roman soldiers, who became martyrs for their Christan faith in 320. According to Basil, forty soldiers who had opened confessed themselves as Christians were condemned by the prefect to be exposed naked upon a frozen pond near Sebaste on a bitterly cold night, so they might freeze to death. During the night, one of the confessors had enough and gave in to the warm baths near the lake which had been prepared for any who might change their mind; as soon as he hit the warm water he immediately died. Then one of the guards, set o keep watch over the martyrs had a revelation and proclaimed himself a Christian, striped down and joined the thirty-nine solders (once again making them 40). At daybreak, the frozen bodies of the confessors, which still showed signs of life, were burned and the ashes thrown into a river.


What were you complaining about again?
This story (and the dynamic way in which it was told) reminded me that things can always be worse! I believe one of the quotes toward the end of the podcast was "those with no socks complain of cold feet, while those without feet don't complain at all" (or something along these lines). In more personal terms, a friend of mine (who's lost both her parents to cancer before she was 18) turned to me and said "at least no one used the word 'malignant' to describe your situation". On the other hand, no one condemned me to death for my beliefs either!