Reflection: J2A pilgrimage

Counting our Blessings
By The Rev. Marguerite Alley

           I have just returned from Pilgrimage with 8 amazing young adults and three very brave and committed “full fledged” adults. During our time together we learned a good bit about the Heifer International model, sustainable farming, the global distribution of wealth along with practical stuff like how to make and cook over an open fire, milking a goat and farming. We participated in two amazing service projects. The first was to help a young priest in an inner city parish beautify and re-organize some of the church space and the other was to host lunch and participate in an outdoor Eucharist at a very cool church called Common Cathedral .

            In all of our adventures together we were able to identify and give thanks for the blessings we enjoy often without thinking about them. Hot (daily) showers, running water, beds, bug spray, food prepared for us, food we prepared for ourselves, food we gathered, food we served, sleeping bags, A/C and so forth were but a few of the things we became more aware of in their absence. If there were ever a time in our lives when we were likely to “count our blessings” it was in the last 13 days.

           We have heard that phrase “count your blessings” since we were young. In some ways we have made a religion of counting our blessings. But one thing I became aware of in the past 13 days is that counting is not enough. Being aware is not enough. What I realized is that like saying “sorry” and not changing my behavior, counting my blessings, while doing nothing to guarantee being able to pass them on, is a waste of time, a waste of resources and misses the whole point of being aware in the first place. If you are aware of a danger down the road, you pass that info along to people you pass heading in that direction. If you are aware of something, doing nothing to make others aware is as good as being oblivious.

           Let me explain what I mean here. Being aware and thankful is certainly a good thing. But it is just the beginning. It should not ever be the end result. It does not require action to be aware, to acknowledge the source. Jesus didn’t say “be thankful” and just sit there. He said “go take care of the poor, the widowed, the orphans”. Take care of the earth, be good stewards of your resources. Maybe not in so many words, but I can’t find any compelling evidence to suggest that Jesus’ message was to use up, destroy and ignore. Being a follower requires action. It requires us to live in such a way as to reflect the gratitude we feel, not just say we feel it. Being truly thankful means when we see something wrong we work to change it. We don’t just say “Boy, I sure am grateful I don’t have to live that way”. This to me is the difference between being a follower of Christ and being a “Christian”. Identifying myself merely as a Christian only designates that I am neither Jewish nor Buddhist nor Muslim nor Agnostic. Living in such as way as to reflect the message of Jesus so that others may see it and understand it is being a follower.

            Sometimes I have made the made the mistake of confusing all the things I enjoy in my life with blessings. Blessings, in my mind, are not synonymous with “things” like money, A/C, cars, houses, jobs and so forth. Those are merely things we enjoy. The tricky part is if we consider these blessings, then we are essentially saying that those who do not have these things are somehow “cursed” and that is just not true. To believe that these things we enjoy (education, jobs, health care, etc) are blessings is to say that God wants us to have these things, but wants others to suffer which of course doesn’t line up with our theology. To continue to believe that I am blessed because I live in a wealthy country, in a wealthy state in a well to do city and neighborhood and enjoy the fruits of my labor to the extent I do is to say that God has singled me out for blessing and has frozen out the homeless guy I passed this morning packing up his stuff to begin his daily search for food, water and a cool spot to spend the day. I just cannot buy into that. Instead, I believe I am called to begin to separate the threads of blessing from privilege. In order to more fully show my gratitude for the real blessings we enjoy as children of God, I intend to be more intentional about living in such a way as to reflect that gratitude in everyway. From consuming less to giving more, we can all be a blessing to each other, to the church and to the world.