Peace in the Midst of Chaos

The spring semester is off and running. One week down, fourteen more to go. With classes, work, fraternity business, trying to keep up with my family back home, and all of the other obligations of everyday life, it is not hard to feel completely overwhelmed. In addition to all of the craziness that is going on in my own life, I look to the news and see the problems that are going on around the world and I want to try to keep up with those too and pray for them. I see all of the world issues and one word comes to my mind - perspective.

Now, I haven't read all there is to know about every single world event, but it doesn't take a lot to realize how tremendously blessed I am (and we all are) to be living in America. We have our problems, there is no doubt about that. And I know that even people in America don't always enjoy the same luxuries as I do, in fact there are plenty that don't, but that is where my moment of peace came in. Last night, I got back to my house at 11pm, in from the bitter cold winter weather, stepping into a climate controlled environment in which I could enjoy warmth from that cold. Already, I am part of a very fortunate group of people who can enjoy that luxury.

Secondly, I hadn't eaten dinner so I went to the freezer. Oven - 400 degrees. Timer - 15 minutes. Frozen pizza to satisfy my hunger - perspective. I had come home with many complaints on my mindn about all the work I had to do during the day, all the work that was still left to do, and the fact that I hadn't gotten to eat dinner until 11pm was making me even more stressed. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. How many people in this country, in the world, cannot just go to their freezer in their climate controlled home, and have a warm meal in 15 minutes? This is no small number. It didn't take long after that for me to drop to my knees, praising God for everything that I take for granted, for the very air I breathe.

I won't say that this realization completely settled my mind for the rest of the night. I still had a ton of reading left to do. But I am becoming more and more aware of the struggles of those around me. I mean, I have done some service here and there just because it has felt like a good experience and it was the right thing to do, but no there is an ever-developing reason behind it. "To whom much is given, much is expected." If what is expected of me is a small fraction of that which has been given to me, then this world is in for a treat. Ah yea!