Our Days Are Exciting

Life was different back then.

I realize that a lot of things are wrong in society today. There are plenty of things we can find to complain about, not to mention all the things we see  on the news that scare us to death. With that being said though, these times are really an exciting time to be alive.

I often think of what it would be like to be suddenly dropped into the society we have today from fifty or a hundred years ago. What a shock it would be, but at the same time it would be a blessing to have access to of all the opportunities and lifestyle advantages we have today.

I wonder if we recognize how blessed we are to have everyday life so easy. We have telephones, good cars that are warm and comfortable, planes that travel to different parts of the nation and around the world, computers that give us access to more information that we thought possible, satellites that show us war as it happens in real time, weather warnings to keep us safe, and access to technology beyond comprehension (even from just ten years ago).

Basically, we have wiped out polio and most childhood diseases that many children died from a half a century ago. And even though cancer is on the rise, we still have treatment that saves lives; many more than we had twenty or so years ago. More lives are being saved from early detection of cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabeties, and other life threatening diseases. I look forward to the day when aids is a curable disease and people learn to change behavior that puts them at risk .

If we take the time to think about it and notice all the things we take for granted, we might feel a lot more blessed and a lot more appreciative of the times we live in today.

I think of how harsh it was to live in the times of Christ. I think of how hard it was to live in the old wild west, and the dangers that existed when venturing away from home alone.  I even thought about what it must have been like to live in the days of Adam and Eve, when they were kicked out of the garden and had to fend for themselves.

I look at people in foreign lands who live in terrible situations; with sanitation problems and diseased water to drink, contaminated by raw sewage. I see people starving from lack of food and the inhumane way people are treated by their leaders. I see people living in fear every single day of their lives, knowing full well that when they go out today they may not return home safely to their families.

My husband and I were just talking the other day about what it must have been like to live and travel on the prairrie with severe storms or when tornados went through the area. They had no radar to show them where the storms were and how severe, no warning sirens to tell them of a tornado in the air or on the ground, and no real shelter. People who lived in tents on the plains and people traveling in covered wagons were totally exposed to the harsh weather and whatever “Mother Nature” dished out to them.

Thank God, we don’t really know what it’s like to have our children’s stomachs swollen from malnutrition and crying for food, or seeing our children lying there dying  and emaciated from no food or water. That must be a horrible thing for a parent to handle, and not being able to do anything about it had to be the worst.

I know that I feel blessed and I am very grateful for the life that we live today. Our challenge now is living with pornography and sexual diviancy and promiscuity. That challenge is hard for us, but I think it is much less of a challenge than being under the restrictions of those who suffered in the past and are suffering now in other countries.

I thank my God all the time for living in the country that I do, for the blessings of living in our times, and for the day that I have been given to do something good with my life. I hope you fell this same gratitude and find it in your prayers to thank your creator for these blessings.

May God be with you, amen.