Parson to Person - Being grateful for all things

I awoke to the annoying sound of my cell phone alarm announcing the arrival of a new day.

Hitting the snooze button, I rolled over and went back to sleep. Fifteen minutes later, I went through the whole process again. The third time the alarm went off, and I staggered from my warm bed into the newly tiled bathroom. Turning the faucet handle of the sink, clean, clear water started running down the drain as I groped in the vanity drawer for my toothbrush.

A half hour later, I placed a Maxwell House K-Cup in my Keurig and smelled the inviting aroma of fresh coffee in less than 30 seconds. I microwaved the bacon while frying a fresh egg, which my chickens had laid the day before, in my new stickless copper frying pan. All the while making toast in the fire engine red toaster I had bought to replace the dull black one that had, much to my delight, broken a few weeks earlier.

I dressed in clean clothes, finished off my second cup of coffee, and tied the laces of my month-old shoes. I kissed my wife goodbye and headed out the door of my recently acquired 2,500 square foot house and walked safely to my car.

While turning the key to start it, I grumbled about the frost on the windows. I scraped the front window as the rear window defroster worked its magic, saving me the trouble of scraping that window as well. I then climbed into my now warm vehicle, started my favorite CD, and headed on down the road to work at a job which I find to be fulfilling and enjoyable.

Not once did I stop to thank God for the blessing of a new day. Never did I find myself lucky for having a cell phone to use as an alarm clock. I didn't even think while running water down the drain, flushing the toilet or taking a warm shower about the six out of 10 people in the world who don't have access to flush toilets or other adequate sanitation.

Nor did I find myself grateful for having a washer and dryer to clean my clothes or a kitchen filled with appliances, which make creating breakfast a simple, if not mindless task. I didn't stop to think about how lucky I was to have a car window to scrape the morning frost off of.

Upon arriving at work, I unlocked my office door, hit the overhead light switch, turned on my space heater, pulled the cord to light the Tiffany lamp near my desk, and pushed the button to start the familiar purr of my desktop computer's hard drive. Never once did I stop to think of the fact that, as Scientific America magazine reported in 2009, a quarter of the world?s population lives without electricity.

How many of you go about your daily routines in the same manner? Have we become so accustomed to our comfortable living style that we forget how lucky we are? Do we take for granted all that God has blessed us with? Do we fail to recognize what we have, instead worrying about what we don't have, or what we think we need or want?

The ancient Greek philosopher Epictetus once said: "He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has."

Are we wise or have we come to take for granted the things and the people around us?

Thornton Wilder once said; "We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures."

How many of us are truly conscious of our treasures? Spring is just around the corner. A time of new awakening and new life is coming. How are we going to spend this season? Are we going to be alive or just going through the motions?

In Luke Chapter 1, Mary exclaims: "My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant."

Can we follow Mary's example of being grateful for what God has given us? Or, will we be too busy complaining about all the dandelions growing in our yard to even notice the roses, no less stop to smell them?