Matthew 6:34 NIV
[34] Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Romans 15:1-2 NIV
[1] We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. [2] Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up.

The last 3 years have been a constant litany of things that I did not expect and certainly did not want.

The death of someone that everyone (including me) knew would outlive me. A seizure for no apparent reason. A second seizure caused by a wholly unique and unlikely chain of events that apparently had nothing to do with the first.

Masked symptoms of another ailment whose treatment could likely have killed me had it been discovered before the seizures (it’s complicated).

Early retirement (which frankly, was a blessing).

Massive renovations on 2 separate properties caused by alternately  a fire and a tornado.

And last night we lost power. Which happens a lot. I live in an outer suburb of Detroit. We have a lot of trees, which is lovely on the face of it. But when the wind blows, they fall. The wind has been blowing a lot lately because of decisions made a long time ago and gross negligence and inaction in the face of those decisions.

But that’s a discussion for another day.

Fortunately, we have a generator that powers most of the house. Unfortunately, the portion of the generator’s auxiliary circuit that powers the heat and well pump (yes, I live that far out) failed. So, no heat and no water this morning.

But I have resources. I’m expecting an electrician to come by in the next couple of hours and hopefully we’ll be up and running soon and the power company promises restoration by 3 pm. Meantime, I’m holed up in a local cafe, safe and warm, as I type this.

I’ve taken to saying that life is lived in the gaps between disasters. There is always a death on the way, a storm, a fire, a circuit failure. So best not to worry about it and enjoy yourself when you can.

But then what of the disasters? Aren’t they “life” too? We don’t just get to accept the “good parts” as “ours.”

I could raise my hands to the heavens and thank God for grace. And I do. I live in constant grace. If my understanding is correct, we all do.

But remember those resources? They make recovery a lot smoother. But for a lot of people, the “gap” between disasters can be a lot narrower, the effects markedly more severe.

Which means I have a responsibility to share my blessings with others.

Why not? I have more than enough.

Which is really sad when you think about it. Nobody has to suffer. There is more than enough to go around.

Yet so many are still left without because there are still so many of us who believe that what we have been blessed with is solely for us.