During the National Day of Prayer last month, our local gathering was given a list of concerns to pray for on specific days. On Thursdays, we pray for economic issues. In my meditation time this morning, my thoughts took an unexpected turn, and it occurred to me that I often run past the blessing of sufficiency in a dash to get to abundance.
Most Americans are financially better off than the people in at least three-quarters of the world. Our houses are twice as large as they were in 1957, when the majority of Americans said they were content with their standard of living. We own more cars and gadgets by far. Today, we spend more as a nation on clothing, jewelry and watches than on healthcare, yet few are talking much about reforming our standard of living.
I’m not saying that we should give up the American dream (although the achievement of more and more stuff is clearly not the right dream). We should strive for excellence in everything we do. But we need an attitude check – more specifically, a gratitude check, or we will rob ourselves of the real goal of contentment.
There is great power in gratitude. Thoughts of having shelter from the weather and mosquitoes, electricity and running water, or that plain old cup of non-designer coffee should produce in us a deep sigh of contentment. When we consume them without thinking, we miss out on the blessing.
In "cardboard cities," the man with the tin roof is living extravagantly. The man who is grateful for his cardboard box, who remains mindful of those who do not have even a cardboard shelter, is better off than the one who wishes he were living in the tin shack. One feels the peace of sufficiency, the other is stressed by his lack. Though they have the same thing, they experience it differently.
I will still plan for retirement, dream of that home addition or pool and imagine that trip I want to take. But I will intentionally appreciate “enough." Like the widow of Zarephath (I Kings 17:7-16), I will thank God for the provision of my daily needs.
Most Americans are financially better off than the people in at least three-quarters of the world. Our houses are twice as large as they were in 1957, when the majority of Americans said they were content with their standard of living. We own more cars and gadgets by far. Today, we spend more as a nation on clothing, jewelry and watches than on healthcare, yet few are talking much about reforming our standard of living.
I’m not saying that we should give up the American dream (although the achievement of more and more stuff is clearly not the right dream). We should strive for excellence in everything we do. But we need an attitude check – more specifically, a gratitude check, or we will rob ourselves of the real goal of contentment.
There is great power in gratitude. Thoughts of having shelter from the weather and mosquitoes, electricity and running water, or that plain old cup of non-designer coffee should produce in us a deep sigh of contentment. When we consume them without thinking, we miss out on the blessing.
In "cardboard cities," the man with the tin roof is living extravagantly. The man who is grateful for his cardboard box, who remains mindful of those who do not have even a cardboard shelter, is better off than the one who wishes he were living in the tin shack. One feels the peace of sufficiency, the other is stressed by his lack. Though they have the same thing, they experience it differently.
I will still plan for retirement, dream of that home addition or pool and imagine that trip I want to take. But I will intentionally appreciate “enough." Like the widow of Zarephath (I Kings 17:7-16), I will thank God for the provision of my daily needs.
