None of us knows what is around the corner let alone what is immediately in front of us.
Nine years ago today we were blissfully unaware of what was about to take place at 5 pm tomorrow. We had absolutely no idea that our son in utero was about to be diagnosed as having Pallister Killian Syndrome; that, on top of having a disastrous diaphragmatic hernia that allowed all his precious organs to float up into his chest cavity, preventing room for life-sustaining lung development. Nine years ago today, we knew we were in a land of trouble, but we had no idea how bad it really was until we had the diagnosis.
One thing I can say qualitatively from this vantage point, having been through what we endured in the shattering of many dreams through child loss, is we simply must make the most of every good day we have.
The nature of life, however,
is that we don’t capitalise on the good,
because we take it so much for granted.
Indeed, the paradox is we must endure
some of the worst experiences known to humankind
to truly learn gratitude for the common blessings
that are poured into each of our lives.
We pass over the myriad good that is given to us because we clamour for what we don’t yet have, and instead of truly appreciating what has been given to us, we look over the fence at what others have, and what we could have, and we covet it with envious desire.
We don’t see the bad that is coming, and instead
we set our sights on the good that we don’t have.
Or, we are so focused on the bad that could occur
we are rendered incapable of enjoying
the good right in front of us.
We would be much better off envisaging thankfulness for the hardships we have been spared from thus far. Sadly, it is genuine and sustained suffering that teaches us this, and what a pity it is that we don’t appreciate the blessings that we already have because we haven’t yet learned to be grateful for them.
Gratitude is a present tense concept.
We can be grateful for what has occurred, i.e., the past, but we can only feel grateful in the present. What fortifies the present moment better than gratitude? Nothing really. Our lives can only be enriched through gratitude.
Through gratitude, we are
less burdensome on others and ourselves.
Through gratitude, blessing emanates from our lives.
Through gratitude, we also see
more and more of what God has given us
and continues to copiously pour into our lives.
Whenever I look at surviving life through addiction, through grief and loss and brokenness, through depression and anxiety, through trauma, and through injustice, betrayal, and failure, I am amazed at how all these add up to gratitude. How can it be that through all these terrible things life has become better than ever? How can it be that when the worst things happen the best can come? How are disasters redeemed so beautifully, beauty out of ashes?
To the uninitiated, this is the way of life
when we go with faith, when we insist upon
looking for the purpose within tragedy.
To the uninitiated, this is the way of life
when we insist upon hope
being the key to the way through hell.
To the uninitiated, there is life beyond suffering,
beyond reproach, beyond disaster of all kinds.
To the uninitiated, there is a power called “resurrection”
that materialises when we have lost everything
yet believe that the best is yet to come.
The gospel narrative, of course, heralds his vision that saves us from eternity to eternity. And this gospel narrative is irrepressibly as true today as it was 2,000 years ago. It is history but it is also a way of life we can enlist in.
Gratitude is the key to faith and to hope and to the conclusion of all good things. Gratitude, especially within calamity, is an audacious reality that predestines and prophesies blessing.
Gratitude is evidence of the work of resilience.
Adversity endured builds resilience and
resilience’s work is made complete through gratitude.
No comments:
Post a Comment