Bless you!

Where do blessings come from?

Are they from God or do they stem from circumstances and decisions by myself and others? I want to assume that they are from God. I want to come across an opportunity or prize and say "Thank you, God, for this blessing" but then what does that say about (our favourite example) the starving child in Africa? Either God has decided to bless me and not bless them or God is just letting free will reign. I think it was Al Pacino in Devil's Advocate who said something like "When something good happens, it's because God's goodness. When something bad happens, you say 's*** happens'."

I've been feeling blessed in some ways recently. Not in ways that are life changing or anything, but little things that help make easier and these things seem to be coming along at just the right time. But why? Surely there is someone else who deserves these 'blessings', if they are indeed from God, far more than I do.

But if I can't depend on blessings from God, then what's the point of requesting things in prayer? What makes me so different than the child in Africa? Is s/he overflowing with different kinds of blessings that I am seeking out? Like, oh, I don't know... A less rushed lifestyle, closer family ties, a more grounded personality? It would be nice to think that I am no more blessed then African child but we just live in a society that puts all kinds of value on money and status and that what they have, in God's eyes, is an equal portion of blessing. Then I could confidently say "A good thing just happened to me, it was from God."

Ecc 7:14: "When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other..."

Um, okay. So, Travis gets a raise: "Thanks, God!"; Travis gets cancer: "God?! What are you doing?!" It's no wonder that people believed that when something bad happened to you it was because of sin. It seems like a pretty logical conclusion to me.

Maybe it's just that I look at life too materialistically (is that a word?... Richard?), and if I knew what was good for me, anything that shortened my life span is the best blessing I could get.

Or maybe everything is a blessing when you get down to it. And I should just walk around like an idiot with a big goofy smile on my face repeatedly saying "Thank you, God. Thanks, God. Thanks again, God."

1 Thes 5:16-18: "Always be joyful and never stop praying. Whatever happens, keep thanking God because of Jesus Christ. This is what God wants you to do."

Anyway, I'm going to stop now before a) I talk in circles and b) people see the length of this blog and say "What did he write his life story?! I'm not reading that!"

Pic of the day!