MONDAY MEDITATION: Unrecognized Gifts (March 15)

“[My Father] makes the sun rise on both the evil and the good and sends rain on both the righteous and the unrighteous.” – Matthew 5:45

The older I get, the more I’ve come to recognize so many gifts I’ve taken for granted.

The older I get, the more I’m amazed at this body, a body that is a walking, healing-itself miracle.

The older I get, the more I appreciate the profound mystery and beauty of nature, revealed even in the simple antics of bluebirds and Carolina wrens hopping around our deck and pecking at oatmeal flakes.

The older I get, the more I’m warmed by simple acts of compassion that arise from the depths of goodness that reside in the human heart.

The older I get, the more I’m inspired by the courage of people to stand up for others who aren’t even in their “group.”

The older I get, the more I see how Jesus lived by giving gifts. To the hungry, he gave baskets full of fish and bread. To the sick he gave health. To the insane he gave peace and clarity. To the shunned he gave companionship. To the grieving parents he gave hope. To the adulterous woman condemned by self-righteous religious leaders, he gave forgiveness.

The older I get, and the farther removed from preoccupations with work and bills, the more I’m seeing that time truly is precious when it’s run on the clock of free, unasked for, and often unrecognized gifts.

How warming it is, deep inside, to recognize more and more gifts that have been there all along.

May we have the grace to see them without having to first add, “The older I get…”

4 thoughts on “MONDAY MEDITATION: Unrecognized Gifts (March 15)”

  1. The older I get the more precious the gift of life is to me, and as you have stated Greg, many other things that I took for granted when I was younger. Richard

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