I haven’t done any gratitude-themed posts this month, and it’s definitely NOT because I don’t have anything to be grateful for. Frankly, life has been very good to me and the main thing I tend to whine about – the fact that I work – for money – is something that I realize might be viewed as a luxury by, say, 11% of my fellow Americans.
Jared and I still joke about the episode of The Office where Michael brings an iPod to the office gift exchange and says that such a gift makes the statement “I love you $400 worth.” (Hard to believe the classic iPod once cost that!) As absurd as that statement was, it’s not so different from what I think many of us feel – that God’s love for us can be measured in the amount of some observable thing that we happen to have – whether that thing be material possessions, leisure time, physical beauty, athletic ability, a spouse, good credit, prestige, etc. It’s a weird Calvinist mentality that I find occasionally creeping into my way of thinking.
All of those things that we typically think of and find ourselves acknowledging at Thanksgiving are frosting on the cake. My true happiness comes from the knowledge that we are God’s children, that he has a plan for us, and that regardless of current life circumstances, what he has in store is worth the working or the waiting or the suffering or whatever it is we have to do today. I try to be a good steward over the things I have. That includes not just material possessions, but my marriage, kids, health, freedom, and so forth. Not everyone has those, after all. I’m sometimes ungrateful, but I’ve been fortunate enough to go places and have experiences that help me keep a smidgen of perspective. I have everything that’s important and more, and even if I lost the “more”, the important things can’t be taken away.
I admit, I hope I’m not jinxing myself by saying this. I really love all that frosting on the cake.
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