BLESSINGS

The economy is not doing well. More and more people are out of work. Retirement funds have been hit hard. Giant corporations and banks have failed. We all wonder if things are going from bad to worse and perhaps are afraid they truly are but at the same time we are hoping and praying that somehow in some way they will turn around and get better, and the sooner the better.

In the midst of all this worrying and wondering, wishing and hoping and even praying, we are preparing to celebrate Christmas, the time of year when we not only are reminded of how truly blessed we are because of Jesus’ birth among us and for us but are thankful that we can share some of our personal blessings with others, both those we love and those unknown to us through our charitable giving.

The temptation, to be sure, in times like these is to hold back, to be less giving, to look out for Number One now more than ever. Some, perhaps many, will succumb to that temptation and who could blame them? These are indeed tough times. Yet it is also in times like these when our generosity is sorely tried that we must also examine just how blessed we are and what God expects from us who are so blessed – and what we should expect, nay demand, of ourselves.

Brian McLaren, who writes much on the Emerging Church, says this: “At the very least we should understand that God doesn’t bless some to the exclusion of others. So, being blessed isn’t simply a privilege: it’s a responsibility.” (Context, August 2008) Somehow we all know the truth of that statement even though our inner self rails against it given these difficult times. We are called in faith by our faith to share our blessings with those who are less blessed. It is indeed a duty and a responsibility.

Or, in the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “Possessions are not God’s blessing and goodness but the opportunities of service which God entrusts to us.” I would add, “not just God’s blessing and goodness,” because that is what they are. Thus, when we share our possessions with those who have little or none, those possessions which are God’s gifts to us, we serve others.

Our possessions are never permanent because they are not ours forever because we are not going to take them with us when we die. Others will take them over. Even more is the knowledge that there is no good reason why we have been so blessed with so much and others lack anything anyone would call a blessing. None of this, of course, makes it any easier to let go of some of those blessings, those possessions, especially because we have worked so hard to get what we have.

What we are called to do is to acknowledge just how blessed we are even in these very, very difficult economic times and then use those possessions, those blessings, well, as best we can. And we use them as such whenever we use them not simply to take care of our own needs and wants but, more importantly, at least as far as the One who blesses us is concerned, how we use them to help and serve the less blessed.