Aren't We Lucky?

This week I was privileged to hear the eulogy for a beloved and faithful woman who was known for asking "aren't we lucky?"

And she was, as I understand, possibly the luckiest person in the world.

This is not to say she won the lottery every day, or confused blessing with good fortune - it was entirely due to her attitude. For she saw everything as an opportunity to recognise gratitude, and to express thankfulness.

A pretty sunset - "aren't we lucky?"

Tasty baked beans and toast for dinner - "aren't we lucky?"

A phone call from a loved one who lived far away - "aren't we lucky?"

She lived to seek out what was good; and this is a trait she shared with her family, her friends, and everyone who met her. In remembering her, everyone agreed that they were lucky to have had her in their lives, regardless of which capacity.

In a time when we can feel out of sorts - it's summer, but we're still in State of Emergency; we feel safe but we're still restricted for health (and rightly so!), we know that our previous (false) sense of security is gone (but still miss our past ignorance), and the future is full of economic, social, and physical uncertainty. Egads. It's easy to focus on the negatives - on what we miss, and how we're inconvenienced, and what we don't like, and how fear is real...

Yet... when we take a pause, and look around, we can see so much to be thankful for. There's so much good in the world that is literally surrounding us - a sunny day, a friend sharing garden vegetables, a great conversation with friends, a meaningful time of prayer...

Even those things which may be discouraging can be an opportunity to be grateful... a destroyed chew toy means my rescue pup knows she is safe and loved... the quarantine weight gain means I have an overabundance of food... travel restrictions means I can focus my adventures on what my home locale has to offer... a closed church building invites creative re-imagining of being the church...

Wow... aren't we lucky?