Gratitude is riches. Complaint is poverty. -- Doris Day

I work at a Catholic hospital and each day the Spiritual Services Department shares a prayer and a thought for the day. Despite it being a Catholic institution they use a lot of ideas from other faith traditions, as they word it. I really like the quote they sent out (above) from Doris Day. It goes along well with my desire to repent of greed.

I'm reading through "Three Cups of Tea". It is the story of Greg Mortenson, an American mountain climber turned educational philanthropist in Pakistan. It is a lovely story and it consistently teaches me of simple gratitude and how giving is so much greater than greed. I was especially struck by his account of opening a school in the days just after 9/11. In the Balti culture that he mainly has worked with they give fresh eggs as a token of grief. Mortenson tells how many widows in this particular village gave him eggs to take to the new widows in the "village of New York" because they longed to comfort them. What love! What a gift! I have so much to learn.

Now onto Bible study. In my discipleship class on Sunday we briefly touched on Colossians 3:1-5, but I felt that the Lord had more to teach me. This is about putting on the new self:

Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.

If I am in Christ (and I know that I am) then I am to set my mind on things above. Like what? The Lord, His truth, His Word and not the garbage that so easily entangles me down here. Additionally, I am to consider my earthly body dead to greed (as well as the other things listed, but I can only tackle them one at a time!). Furthermore, Paul defines greed as idolatry. Loving stuff. Loving food. Finding meaning and purpose from things created rather than from the Creator.

Christ is my life, Paul says. My life is hidden with Christ in God. the most meaningful thing about my life, my existence, is the fact that the spirit of the God of the Universe dwells in me. That is where my significance lies.

Thank You, Lord for this truth. I'm going to have to sit with it for awhile and let it sink in. Help me to meditate on your glorious provision for me and help me not meditate or idolize created things that we know eventually pass away and rot. Thank you, Lord, for providing me with something new to ponder each day. Keep it coming! Please don't stop until I get this down pat! Thank You for your consistent presence and faithfulness. Forgive me for not appreciating it as I should. Amen.