Gratitude

 September 19, 2021

A conversation with a woman this afternoon has given me pause for gratitude. She was helping her mother arrange items for a yard sale next door to my daughter. Not everyone had yet arrived for dinner, so I took the opportunity to wander over, look briefly at the offered wares, and introduce myself. She is a personal assistant to some wealthy clients in Palm Beach, Florida where she lives half the year, splitting her time between there and back here near her mother. Since my granddaughter is at the time in the same occupation, we talked about what it was like. 

She told me she lives simply, enjoys the freedom her work offers, and is grateful for the life she is privileged to lead. From other parts of her conversation, I gathered that she is Seventh Day Adventist, which is neither here nor there except for our common faith in Christ. We are both grateful for life in the slow lane, but also for having the opportunity to experience those who have far more than we, but also those who have far less. 

There is a perspective gained from such experiences that most people miss, not for the lack of opportunity, but for the lack of will. Most people who visit other places don’t go to experience life as the commoner lives it; they usually go as tourists, seeing only what they want to see, experiencing only that which satisfies their truncated and often selfish desires. 

I left that conversation today looking up at the sky blazing in all its azure glory, and grateful to live where I do and when I do. The wealthiest and most powerful of monarchs of only two centuries past didn’t enjoy half the privileges and comforts I take for granted every day. Even today, most of the world’s nearly eight billion people cannot even imagine what to me are ordinary blessings. Life here in our corner of Creation is pretty laid back. I am surrounded by beauty—beautiful countryside, beautiful people, a beautiful Savior. To take my eyes off this and gaze only upon the problems and ills of this world would be a sin because it destroys my perspective and becomes the inadvertent object of my worship. This I will not do.