Our Days

Each morning that I'm home, I walk outside, my hair a mess (what's left of it after forty-six years), coffee cup in hand and stare absently at the lake below our house. I listen as the birds come to life, completely unaware that today could be their last day. Frogs begin to quiet, aware their time is not now, but in the depths of darkness when other predators struggle to see their camouflaged bodies.


I breath deeply the fresh air, and sip gingerly from my coffee cup, the java still steaming from its recent course through my the machine that helps wake me every day. Every day the sun comes up, I'm reminded of God's blessings, the ability to see another spectacle that has been laid out for me, and those who matter most to me.


We all complain about our lives, but have you stopped to question what it is that's really bothering you?  Your job (be thankful you have one)?  Your house/apartment (be happy you have a roof over your head)?  Your significant other (be grateful you aren't lonely)?  Your situation in life (did you eat last night, or have a place to sleep)? 


On several occasions I've explained to people that I've seen destitution...I've seen people on the precipice of despair with only an insignificant thread on which to hang.  I've watched children beg for loose change to take to their parents so those parents can purchase a morsel of rice for their families.  I've watched pre-teens dancing and singing for money when they should have been in school learning to read and write.


My fellow North Americans and Europeans: while you scream for change and hope, or hope and change, there are others who cry out for just your petty change.  There are those who would love to be in your situation, have YOUR problems rather than theirs, and gladly change places with you even if for a day.


To cry and wail for change when our problems are so globally insignificant is perplexing to me.  Please save your pennies (even if they are pennies) and go see the world.  See what else is out there then you will have a much broader appreciation for what we have here.


With that, I will stare out at the lake that lies casually behind my house and listen to the birds as they wake to another day...those same birds without a care, or a cause, or a knowing.

Peace and love to you all.