'Please'

There is so much that God does and so much beauty He creates that pleases me.  Now how can I please Him?

'I try to act solely to please our Lord.'

St. Thérèse of Lisieux

While reading some more of St. Thérèse of Lisieux's thoughts last night, I was struck by the number of times she mentioned her wish to please God. Of course, I hope we all wish to please God on some level.  But St. Thérèse wrote of actively looking for ways to please God in daily life.  She walked around asking herself, 'What can I do, whom can I serve, what can I give in this moment that will please God?' (my paraphrase, not her words).

So as I prayed before bed, I asked God to help me be more mindful during the day.  I don't want to just think about how to please God in theory; I want it to be a real part of daily life.  I want to stop and ask myself, 'Will this choice please God?'

But in order to do that, I need to better understand what it means 'to please.'  So lover of language that I am, I puzzled over the meanings and etymology of 'please' as I laid awake trying to sleep. Hang in there with me--I promise that all the parsing of language coming up has a point.

As far as I can tell, there are two distinct but related definitions and usages of 'please':

1. Adverb used in polite requests or questions, as in 'Would you pass the salt, please?'
2. Verb meaning to cause happiness and pleasure, as in 'Music pleases me.'

Something I had never before considered but that makes complete sense now is that 'please' must be etymologically related to 'pleasure'.  Indeed, 'please' is a shortened version of the once-oft-used phrase 'if you please,' which uses the verb form of 'please.' Using that phrase instead of the adverb 'please,' we come up with this request: 'If you please, would you pass the salt?' Written this way, the request seems to open up to us a whole new meaning; the asker implies that there is some sort of pleasure involved in granting a request.  

Now, the way the above question is phrased makes the request conditional...the second person does not have to pass the salt if it will not give him pleasure to do so. But here is my point: I think helping and giving should always give pleasure.  And once I stumbled upon that truth, I realized that I can best please God by giving to others...by anticipating requests before they're made and filling them joyfully. I want to take pleasure in the filling of requests and needs, both spoken and unspoken. 

So today, I am asking myself whether I give joyfully, willingly, generously, happily. Can I challenge myself to take pleasure in giving my time, talent, and treasure even when I don't think I want to? Even when it would be awkward or uncomfortable or inconvenient to give the homeless man on the corner some spare change? Even when I really want to sleep, but a friend needs to talk? When someone annoys or offends me, can I joyfully give her the benefit of the doubt and try to see her good intention? When a colleague asks me to do more tedious proofreading because it is one of my strengths, can I take pleasure in the task, knowing that it will help her?  If you please, would you, reader, join me on this quest?? :)  

St. Thérèse quotation taken from The Little Way of St Thérèse of Lisieux: In her own words published by the Catholic Truth Society.