-
There is a thought that has become clearer for me over the past few months,
that seems to have wide ranging effects on how I look at life and at
material possessions.
It is the realization that there is absolutely nothing that I have right now that has not been given to me.
And this is true for the whole world.
It is easy to get distracted by thoughts of what is mine vs. what belongs to someone else. And while that distinction is important to remember, for the proper functioning of society, it is also important to remember that none of those things were earned or created by the people who have them. They "belong" to them because they have received those gifts.
It changes how I look at the world when I realize that everything I depend on to live actually belongs to Someone else. Not even my own body is my own, in the sense that I did nothing to bring it into being. I am like a tenant in a house where I don't pay any rent. I'm just allowed to live there out of the goodness of the landlord's heart.
Can anyone say they have life by their own effort, or by their own wit, or by their own wealth? Everything from conception to death is a gift that comes from outside us. We had no part in starting it, and no part in its end. Even the ability to manage the things we have been given is a gift itself.
So the next time someone on the street asks for some spare change, and realizing that everything I have and he has are gifts that belong to Someone else, what should be my proper action? What would be the right way for me to manage the gifts I've been entrusted with?
This cuts both ways. But perhaps that is a topic for another blog post.
