Two Perspectives

Lately, God has been blessing my wife and me. That’s not exactly right. . .I suspect it would be better to say that we’ve just been noticing that God has been blessing us. I’m not talking about material things primarily. . .although we’re grateful that we never go hungry, aren’t sleeping out in the rain, and our bodies are fairly healthy. But I’m talking mainly about intangible things like going a little deeper in our relationship. . .being put in a position where we can do things for other people. . .a little more inner calm. We’ve both noticed, and we’ve commented on it to each other. I think I've been a little surprised, almost like, “This is weird. I’m not sure this should be happening.” Or perhaps even a thought or two of, “We must finally be doing something right.” Well, that’s one perspective. But I came across another perspective while reading Letters from Fr. Seraphim this morning. In one of his letters, Fr. Seraphim started by saying, “We are well. . .being overwhelmed by God’s grace, which we feel strongly to prepare us for the difficult times soon upon us. We must all increase our fervent prayer.” That stopped me dead in my tracks. Self-congratulations or sobriety. . .those are two very different responses to God’s blessings. Thank God for the example of holy people. I can be so foolish.