There are a lot of things that we take for granted in life. When we go to sleep, we often take it for granted that we will wake up the next morning, and that the sun will come up, and that we'll have water and power and food and other such things. We take for granted the fact that we have a place where we can go to worship, and that we have the freedom to gather in such places.
I had one incident during my time in Russia that taught me a bit about this. While we were on our retreat at Lake Baikal, two mornings we woke up to no power and no water. Now, normally for me, I get up and take a shower. It helps get me in the flow of the day. So on those days when it's not available, I tend to feel a little bit like the day is "off."
That was a relatively minor thing. In talking with those who serve as spiritual leaders in congregations, especially in Siberia, I came across another thing that I typically take for granted. When the communists took over in the early part of last century, they seized many of the church facilities and used them for other functions. You may recall that part of the communist thinking is that there is no God, so they felt free to either destroy or convert many churches to other uses.
Since the fall of communism, Christianity has once again dug its roots in Russia. However, many of the buildings that belonged to churches before communism have yet to be restored to the people. There is a lengthy process when it comes to trying to reclaim those buildings for use. For many Christian groups, they are having to be creative when it comes to finding places of worship to gather together.
I have found that I often take for granted the building in which we worship. Yes, it's about 40something years old, and it has its problems. The roof may be developing a leak, and there is a crack in one wall. It gets really hot during the summer and really cold during the winter. But it has stood there for over 40 years, and likely will continue standing there for quite a few more.
That means that the people of this community have a place to gather for worship. And yet, I often wonder how many take that for granted. I know of people who vacation all summer, and their expectation very likely is that the building and people will still be there when they decide to come back. There are those who wake up on a Sunday morning and think that they are tired or have had a long week or weekend, and so they'll just go next Sunday. They take it for granted that the place and people will still be there.
Now, is it likely that the people and the building will still be there? It seems so. And yet, one of the things that I have gathered from reading the Bible is that God really doesn't want us to start taking His gifts to us for granted. That goes for the day we get to live, the spouse and family we have, our place of worship, the food on our table, the air that we breathe, and so many other things. It is not as though we are entitled to these. God makes it clear that everything we have in this life is a gift, and not something to be taken for granted.
I recognize that our human nature is such that we will inevitably take things for granted. We tend to de-value those things that are always there or that are very common. And yet, I cannot help but wonder if it wouldn't be good for us to take a few moments every once in a while and just think about the things that we so easily take for granted. Take a moment to thank God for all of those things in life. Sure, you may forget to consider it as a gift even a few seconds or minutes later, but I truly do believe that our life is much richer when we consider and give thanks for those things that are so easily taken for granted.
I had one incident during my time in Russia that taught me a bit about this. While we were on our retreat at Lake Baikal, two mornings we woke up to no power and no water. Now, normally for me, I get up and take a shower. It helps get me in the flow of the day. So on those days when it's not available, I tend to feel a little bit like the day is "off."
That was a relatively minor thing. In talking with those who serve as spiritual leaders in congregations, especially in Siberia, I came across another thing that I typically take for granted. When the communists took over in the early part of last century, they seized many of the church facilities and used them for other functions. You may recall that part of the communist thinking is that there is no God, so they felt free to either destroy or convert many churches to other uses.
Since the fall of communism, Christianity has once again dug its roots in Russia. However, many of the buildings that belonged to churches before communism have yet to be restored to the people. There is a lengthy process when it comes to trying to reclaim those buildings for use. For many Christian groups, they are having to be creative when it comes to finding places of worship to gather together.
I have found that I often take for granted the building in which we worship. Yes, it's about 40something years old, and it has its problems. The roof may be developing a leak, and there is a crack in one wall. It gets really hot during the summer and really cold during the winter. But it has stood there for over 40 years, and likely will continue standing there for quite a few more.
That means that the people of this community have a place to gather for worship. And yet, I often wonder how many take that for granted. I know of people who vacation all summer, and their expectation very likely is that the building and people will still be there when they decide to come back. There are those who wake up on a Sunday morning and think that they are tired or have had a long week or weekend, and so they'll just go next Sunday. They take it for granted that the place and people will still be there.
Now, is it likely that the people and the building will still be there? It seems so. And yet, one of the things that I have gathered from reading the Bible is that God really doesn't want us to start taking His gifts to us for granted. That goes for the day we get to live, the spouse and family we have, our place of worship, the food on our table, the air that we breathe, and so many other things. It is not as though we are entitled to these. God makes it clear that everything we have in this life is a gift, and not something to be taken for granted.
I recognize that our human nature is such that we will inevitably take things for granted. We tend to de-value those things that are always there or that are very common. And yet, I cannot help but wonder if it wouldn't be good for us to take a few moments every once in a while and just think about the things that we so easily take for granted. Take a moment to thank God for all of those things in life. Sure, you may forget to consider it as a gift even a few seconds or minutes later, but I truly do believe that our life is much richer when we consider and give thanks for those things that are so easily taken for granted.
No comments:
Post a Comment