RINGGGGGG, RINGGGGGG, RINGGGGGG! That six hours later is passed. There might be time for a snooze or two, and then its time to wake up. Get up. For some, its just another day to grind through. Its another day to pass by. For others, the day is seen, as everyday is, as an opportunity to "get money" (because money is precisely what our world is so infatuated with).
Regardless of which of these persons you are -- or perhaps you're different -- there is still a cycle. It's a monotonous, viscous cycle that leaves little room for the renewing of our minds. Even if we claim to enjoy our lives because we "get that cash" during the week and can spend our Saturdays partying with our peers and mix in family time with a hangover recovery on Sundays, we are still victimized by the cycle, or the bubble that is public society. We get comfortable, and despise that which is uncomfortable. This, I believe, is our greatest sin. This is where we fall flat on our faces, sometimes without realizing it, and simply don't care.
We humans become so attached to our routines, to our cycles, to our calenders and schedules that what consumes such things consumes us. We have check lists. Things to do. Parties to attend. Money to make. Food to cook. And to eat. We forget one thing: we are blessed.
No, I'm not talking about the "blessed" that you see on people's skin in ink form, nor the "blessed" that you see tweeted all over the internet. I am talking about the beyond numerous amount of gifts we have been given that we absolutely do not deserve. I am talking about the reality in which we throw away our leftovers without hesitation. Our realization of this blessing is never fully understood. When we think we're blessed, we don't grasp just how blessed we are. Our abilities to eat, sleep, drink, and have opportunities to posses money on a daily basis are abilities others die for. Such blessings we abuse and under-appreciate.
We shouldn't feel shame for being spoiled by God. We should embrace our good fortune. But how we embrace it, I believe, tells us a lot about our character and understanding of servant-hood. If we cannot share our blessings and serve others physically, we ought to certainly do so mentally. This doesn't mean we need to shed a tear for the 22,000 in poverty who die each day because of dirty water, malnutrition, disease, hunger, lack of shelter, squalid surroundings, and dehydration among other things. It does mean, however, that we are ignorant and selfish if we don't put our blessings to use to serve others. If we continue to publicly exclaim that we are blessed, we ought to realize we have an overabundance of met needs and wants. Therefore, if we can admit this, we should also admit that we have more than enough to share, and consequently, care. Solution: Start sharing!
A former college professor of mine once said poverty should not be a thought or margin of our budgets, but instead, it should be the priority of our budgets. While extremists such as Leo Tolstoy would surely agree, I realize such a statement is completely life changing if taken to heart. I understand the difficulty behind that because I have been a selfish individual for 22 years of my life. But if we are not willing to meet our call to defend and support the oppressed to the best of our abilities, how dare we proclaim our blessings and proceed to do little to satisfy our conviction.
If we can't give to the best of our abilities, we must first start with the least of our abilities. Baby steps will grow, and the margins of our budgets might eventually become the priority of our budgets. So if all else fails, if we cannot begin to surrender our blessings to others, then we must start somewhere; we must consider the poor.
