The other day I met a tiny elderly woman from Greece. Her husband, she explained with great pride, had gone home to Greece to pay their taxes. They emigrated 40 years ago but every year they go home to pay the taxes on their small Greek property.
God has blessed us with a fruitful and wonderful earth.
After bemoaning the state of the economy in her home country, she pointed out that here we have a good economy, roads, transit, hospitals and schools because people pay their taxes.
We are so lucky to live here, she said, very lucky. She lives in a modest one bedroom apartment in a low-income area of the city. Yet she counts herself lucky.
We are lucky. Some would say blessed, but the word “blessed” in this context troubles me. How is it that I was born to this family, and not to an impoverished family in the developing world? Did I get an extra dose of blessing at conception? Are others somehow less blessed because of their birth family? Does God bless some of us more than others?
What I do know is that we have enough resources on earth to feed everyone. Maybe God has blessed us with a fruitful and wonderful earth, and we’re supposed to figure out how to care for it and share it.
As for me, I don’t need to buy a lottery ticket. I have already won the lottery just by living here with so many advantages. The challenge is how to share.
Seeker of Wisdom 