Reflection for the month - February  

‘Don’t take anything for granted’ is good advice at any time but something to think about seriously as another year has begun with perhaps promises of a fresh start, a change of heart or possibly just keeping calm and carrying on. Taking things for granted in our well developed and reasonably well-regulated surroundings is understandable, - yes of course we have to pay for such things as clean water when we turn on the tap, electricity when we throw the switch, a good choice of food and goods in the shops when we go out to buy – and most likely we take it for granted that will always be the case. God’s gifts to all of us – starting with life itself – are likewise easy to take for granted, our minds are continually diverted by many of the pressures and some of the trivialities day-to-day living. It is not always easy to think about the Author of Life itself, and give a ‘Thankyou’ to Him.  Children are frequently accused of taking their parents for granted, failing to appreciate the great love which goes into caring for them and raising them. Only when they become adult – even parents themselves - do they begin to understand what love truly requires of them. 

God our Father, our creator, loves us, every one of us. He loves us, His children, unconditionally and that is as we should love him, and this world - his creation, always being thankful for what he has given us and never taking Him or His Divine Providence for granted. There are however thousands here in this country and millions around the world, for whom such things as water, clean or otherwise, power or fuel and food are beyond their means to buy in sufficiency or not available at all.  Worse still are the conditions for those caught up in wars which are remorselessly destroying their worlds. 

Peace, for which we pray so regularly and fervently comes not from the absence of war, but from the presence of justice. The injustice of adding to or ignoring the plight of the hungry, the homeless the oppressed takes for granted that they and their problems will either go away or someone else will look after them. We must pray and work for justice as earnestly as we pray and work for peace. Throughout His life Jesus showed us and told us of the many ways that we must show our love for God through loving and caring for each other as we would have them love and care for us. 

Jesus came to offer us life at its very best, richer, fuller and eternal, infinitely better than anything we can achieve by our own efforts.  We are privileged to know so much about Jesus and we must be careful to follow His example and guidance, showing to one another the caring love, justice and merciful forgiveness of God for us his creation. Yes, there is certainly a challenge for us to accept the freely given gifts of God, not to ignore them nor take them for granted but to shape our lives around them. Our lives and the lives of others around us will be so much better if we do.