The humble gift

I thought I would never say this, but sometimes I think we need to be content with less. Let me explain.

Perhaps it is the culture we live in, or perhaps some of us (or maybe just myself) have grandiose ideas of what life could be like. But I am realizing I miss out when I am shooting too high and not accepting of the here and now. Not that I don't believe we should dream big. But if my head is always in the clouds, then I wonder how many smaller gifts I fail to recognize and accept.

I say this as I think of Jesus. For centuries, a Messiah had been prophesied. My understanding is that the Israelites prayed daily for the Messiah, begging God to send him to save Israel. But, as John so eloquently says, he came unto his own, and his own received him not. (Jn 1:11). Why? Because Jesus was too lowly, to humble of birth. He did not promise an earthly kingdom, he did not free them from Roman rule. Even Jesus disciples expected at least that much. In other words, Jesus was a big disappointment.

I wonder just how much I resemble the faithful of Jesus' times. I wonder how many blessings I miss because I am looking for something bigger, something grander. And God sends something humble my way, but I don't see it. I'm waiting for that big grace or event or moment. And so I stand waiting for the earth shattering grace of God, while the soft whisper of God's voice perhaps passes me by. I don't know, but I am wondering.

We are called to believe in big things. I guess the secret is, to believe while still seeing God in the humble aspects of our lives. Not really a balancing act, but an openness to the moment. Perhaps this is what Jesus meant when he said to the Samaritan woman, If you but knew the gift of God, and who it is saying to you 'Give me to drink" (Jn 4:10). 

Perhaps that is the secret. Perhaps that is also a life's work.