Ezr 9:5-9 / Lk 9:1-6
There’s an interesting question going around which is worth pondering: Where were you when your parents were children? The answer is obvious and simple: We were nowhere. We simply WEREN’T. Intellectually, the answer is obvious, but it’s hard for us to grasp at a feeling level: There was a time, not so long ago, when I simply wasn’t and never had been, when nobody had ever thought of me or knew my name or even knew that I might be coming. That does put things in perspective!
Having been around for quite a few years now, we tend to take a lot for granted. We grow accustomed to "MY body, MY talents, MY brain, MY house, MY kids, MY investments," and we feel as if they really belong to us. And sometimes we act almost as if we thought we gave them to ourselves. That’s an illusion, as any one of life’s fateful turns can make clear in a moment.
The fact is that everything we have, including our life, is a gift from God that we didn’t earn. And we have it, not because of any merit on our part, but simply because God is generous. When we get clear about that, as Ezra was in today’s Old Testament reading, we know what we need to do. We need to give thanks, over and over, and not just in words but in deeds.
So what are the deeds of a thankful heart? Compassion, forgiveness, and generosity: sharing what we have with others as open-handedly as God shares with us. In doing that, we become like God, and when our time here is ended, we will know the way home to Him.
