The lights went out just as I was going to step into the
shower. Here, where the water is heated
by an electric shower head, that means
no hot water, as well as total darkness in my windowless bathroom. So I went to heat up my left-over coffee. .
.oops, no microwave. So I’ll iron my
slacks to wear to church—no that won’t work. Well, I’ll check up on my email
and facebook. . .ugh! no modem! And I
sit here realizing just how good I have it, even though I call myself a
missionary.
While I was in the States the past few weeks, I was annoyed
and pained by how those living in the US take for granted, as entitlements,
things which the “majority world” lives without. I also saw how easily I “reacculturate” (is
that a word?) to living in the affluence of North America. I’m not talking about backyard swimming pools
or country club memberships, but ordinary things. Electricity, clean water (every time I went
to take a drink directly from the water faucet, I paused to think—and I know,
more and more Americans are drinking only bottled water, but to be able to
drink tap water without bacteria and parasites was a pleasure), water heaters,
level sidewalks, convenience foods, possessions beyond what we would ever
really need. Even being able to “flush”
the toilet paper rather than throw it in the trash. Oh, what Americans take for granted. What I started to take for granted in the
short time I was in the States. . .
Today I realize just how well I live here, when people, even
those down the street, live without running water and/or electricity. I have a
roof that doesn’t leak, three rooms plus and indoor bathroom for only one
person, a bed with an inner-spring mattress, a refrigerator, more clothes than
I can wear in a month, and never have I gone to bed hungry, or wondering where
my next meal would come from. How I
take for granted what God has blessed me with, even in a “Third World
country.” And I stand convicted. . .
There’s a question circulating on facebook that gives me
reason to pause now and then. . .
If the only things you
had today were the things you thanked God for yesterday, what would you still
have?
I’m afraid, for me, that would not be very much. . .
Father, forgive my
ungrateful heart. Forgive my sense of
entitlement. Open my eyes to the gifts
around me in each moment of every day. . .and may I thank you for them as I
receive them.
No comments:
Post a Comment