That Old Black Magic

Look at your life. Pretty fabulous isn't it? I know one flick of a finger and I have light and heat (or cool air), the twist of a wrist provides a torrent of water, at any  temperature I choose. It might be icy cold for drinking or near scalding for a shower.

I have magic boxes in my home. There is one that keeps food cool and slows spoilage. Another whirls my clothes around and around in soapy water to clean them and another twirls them around in a heated box until they are dry and fluffy.

Several of these boxes provide entertainment, news and music. I have another small box that lets me speak to my children no matter where they are in the world.

If I run out of food, or just don't like what is at my house, I have another magic box on wheels that rolls me out to a food gathering source, called a grocery store. If I want someone else to cook it for me the same magic box will take me to a place called a restaurant.

I have this other really large magic box that provides a comfortable and restful place to sleep. I really like spending time in that one.

So why is my life so great? How did my soul end up being put in this body in 1959. Why not into a body in 1859, or 2059?  How was I so fortunate to be born into a home with food, water, shelter and love?

Why did some other soul on that day in 1959 get born into a body in Malawi village, where children are always hungry, where a day without any food is common? A place where there is isolation from clean water, doctors, medicine and education?

I don't have any answers to these questions. I found a few verses in the Bible that indicated we existed before birth

Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew[a] you,
    before you were born I set you apart;
    I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."

Or this one.

Psalm 139:15 "My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth."That Old Black Magic

There was nothing to explain why any of us get born into the circumstances that we are.

I turned to the teachings of  C.H. Spurgeon, whom I mentioned before that I am reading. He is speaking of the Holy Spirit. I will quote him here.

"If we give ourselves up to His teaching we will fall into no errors, It will be a great mystery, but we will know enough so that it will never trouble us. If you sit down and try to study the mystery of the Eternal, well, I believe the longer you look, the more you will be like persons who look into the sea from a great height, until they grow dizzy and are ready to fall and to be drowned."

I sometimes feel ashamed at how I take my blessings for granted. I complain about things, like washing dishes and laundry instead of praising God for the ease with which I can do them. I complain about cooking, or what to cook for dinner instead of being grateful that I can eat any food at any time I desire.

I should be marveling at my many blessings. I was born into a time period where women gained more and more freedom, more choices, and the convenience of living that allowed those choices to exist.

So, Thank You, Father, for choosing me to be where I am, when I am and show me the way I am to best serve you.

I am praying for so many of you. Some in college, some adopting, some starting a married life. The many in my church family that are ill.  As I hear the ambulances and firetrucks go by my house each day I pray for the EMT's and the firemen, and for the people they are rushing to help.

I hope some of you are praying for me as well.