good things

I was once asked by a high school teacher to come to his class and teach his students about Christianity. It was a humanities class and part of their curriculum was to study World Religions. I had forty-five minutes to explain the core beliefs of Christianity to twenty-seven high school students followed by fifteen minutes of the students asking me questions. My allotted time went quickly, and I was eager to get to the time when we could have discussion.

I concluded and asked for questions. The first one was, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” I thought for a time; looked at the student and replied, “Why do good things happen to anyone?” We spent the rest of the hour trying to figure out that side of the question.

We have been so wrought with the question of evil in our world, and rightly so. There is much to be concerned about. However, why are we not mystified by the good that exists in our lives? Every day I wake up next to my beautiful wife. I take a shower with hot water. I eat a bowl of cereal, and occasionally grab a granola bar for a mid-morning snack. I drive to work in a well-tuned car. I spend time studying the Text each day openly without fear of being caught. I come home at night and play trains with my son, and dance with my daughter. I sit with my wife and kids and eat a great dinner. Later in the evening we might meet up with our friends Jason and Liz and their son. In the summer and we walk to get ice cream. We enjoy the cool breezes on our face as we sit on our patio until late in the evening. I head to my bed, and sleep soundly until the alarm clock wakes me for the start of a new day.

For most of you, what I just described as an average day did not strike you as odd. You may have even been wondering what kind of ice cream I like, (Chocalate Chip Cookie Dough for the extremely curious) or maybe you are wondering how well I dance. Even as I write this I do so with a smile, thinking about the joy my son gets when his train goes over the big hill. This is normal, this is life, isn’t it?

We don’t give this kind of world a second thought. Every once in a while we may hear a sermon that speaks about all that we have and how thankful we should be. While it may often seem trite to thank God for toy trains maybe we need to do that and more. This is the kind of thing that should humble us. I have a son who is healthy and beautiful. This is not normal, this is God’s blessing. As for why these things happen to me ... that will be a question I will be in wonder of forever.