Zest for Life

Every now and then I encounter somebody whose zest for life amazes me. It happened again last weekend, while I was visiting family and we went to Sunday Mass in North Dakota. Before Communion, my sister leaned towards me and pointed out that our first cousin, whom I hadn’t seen for over fifty years, was one of the eucharistic ministers.


After Mass, we stayed to chat for a few minutes. At age 84 she was still full of energy and enthusiasm as she said, “You’ll never guess what I did yesterday—I went sky diving!”

We were dumbfounded. “Weren’t you afraid,” I asked, “of stepping out of the plane, or doing the free fall, or landing?”

“No,” she answered. “God was there when I stepped out, and God was still there when I landed. I wasn’t afraid. I did it for the first time when I was 79, and I loved it. So I did it again yesterday with several of my children. It’s a wonderful experience!”

I was humbled by her trust in God—her awareness of God’s totally reliable presence -- and her zest for life.

submitted by Delores Dufner, OSB