…Opening To…

Sonny, true love is the greatest thing in the world — except for a nice MLT — mutton, lettuce and tomato sandwich, where the mutton is nice and lean and the tomato is ripe. They’re so perky, I love that. (Miracle Max, The Princess Bride)

…Listening In…

Fezzik: You just shook your head… doesn’t that make you happy?
Westley: My brains, his steel, and your strength against sixty men, and you think a little head jiggle is supposed to make me happy?

…Filling Up…

Westley has been mostly dead all day, but the chocolate-coated pill Miracle Max made to bring him back to life has worked – almost. The former Man in Black can talk and move his eyes and wiggle his finger, but those are the extent of his physical abilities. Inigo and Fezzik bring him back so he could plan a way to break into the castle guarded by sixty men. Needless to say, things look bleak.

Westley indicates the fact that things, indeed, do look bleak by shaking his head, although it comes off as more of a loll back and forth. This is when Fezzik quips the line above. It seems that Fezzik is looking on the bright side, while Westley, who has been mostly dead all day and now must think his way past a gate guarded by sixty men, is seeing no reason for optimism.

He calls it a head-jiggle. How is a little head jiggle supposed to make him happy? We can ask the same question about our lives. The little head jiggles in our lives are those tiniest of blessings that we more than likely miss because we are busy calculating how to get into the castle (thanks for riding this metaphor with me, by the way). But it is these blessings that make up the great majority of the blessings God bestows on our lives. Not every blessing is flashy. Not every one has neon sign that points to itself and says, “Hey I’m a blessing.” Most blessings are like the plankton whales eat. You wonder how a great, big whale can survive on microscopic organisms. Well, it’s because each whale eats about a million a day.

So remember the little head jiggles that make you happy. Write them down. You might be faced with a castle gate and five-dozen armed swordsmen, but each head jiggle is just as important.

…Praying For…

Dear God, thank you for blessing me with the abundance of gifts, both that I see and never notice. Help me to appreciate the blessings in my life so that I can remember them when times are tough. In Jesus Christ’s name I pray. Amen.

…Sending Out…

I leave this moment with you, God, knowing that yours is the truest love in the world and that not even death can stop true love.