As Long as I Have Breath By Hannarich Asiedu
In this season, as we face the pandemic and its unpredictable effects, how do we maintain our sanity? Some few weeks ago, in my Bible study class, we discussed our attitude as Christians when giving thanks to God. We had a fascinating discussion that day. Most of us were hurt whenever we showed acts of kindness to people who either did not express any gratitude or simply undermined our actions. We had all experienced a lack of appreciation from people to the extent that it almost deterred us from showing further acts of kindness. When we threw the spotlight off ourselves back to God, we were utterly ashamed; because we realized it was the exact thing we were doing to God. We don’t shout His praises or dance around when He does seemingly “simple” things for us–like waking us up every morning, taking us to the grocery store and back. No, those things are too simple and mundane to elicit a joyful celebration to God. We are waiting for God to accomplish the BIGGER, GREATER tasks before we dance in praise and thank Him. The Jews have a tradition of counting a hundred blessings each day. I read somewhere that the story behind this tradition was during the reign of King David. A terrible plague took the lives of 100 people every day. The rabbis of the time instituted a rule of reciting 100 blessings every day. The plague immediately stopped. 6PAGE | M5 AG A Z I N E N A M E 3
Whether this story is true or not, I wondered if I could count 100 blessings in a day? How is that possible? When we become conscious that even using the potty is an opportunity to be thankful that our kidneys function correctly, we can become mindful of seemingly “little” blessings. Blessings like seeing, talking, listening, moving our arms and legs, and many other “minor” blessings that we enjoy every day. If we have a job, if we are married or single, or if we have billions in the account or nothing, no matter our situation, let us endeavor to cultivate an attitude of thanksgiving. What of all our many dreams and unfulfilled expectations? Some years ago, I worked with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in remote villages in Africa. Most of these villages did not have access to basic amenities such as electricity, water, health care, or even good roads. The town folks were generally happy, yet they looked forward excitedly to receiving these basic amenities, hoping to become even more joyful. Most of us reading this article may have some access to electricity and internet connection. Yet having those amenities does nothing to our desire of wanting more in life. We are never satisfied as human beings; we simply want more, no matter where we are on the social ladder.
