Count your blessings - a spiritual discipline that empowers you to choose!

I am blessed to still have a few days of leave left before I return to work on the 12th of January (well, actually I start over the weekend on the 10th, but I'll only be in the office from the 12th).

I always experience this 'liminal' time as quite strange - I want to enjoy each and every moment of every day of my leave, yet at the same time I am starting to get a little restless, wanting to get back to my ministry! I am full of energy, I've got some new ideas, and I'm eager to tackle the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead this year. Yet, I still count the hours that I have left. Strange isn't it? It's an 'in between time'...

Counting the hours is quite helpful, it allows me to enjoy each of them, to know that each one is precious and that I must take care not to waste them in unnecessary things. I am making the most of chance to sleep, chances to spend time with my family, time to read, and the freedom to exercise.

There is a sense in which counting the hours empowers me to choose how I shall use them! Does that sound strange? Well, it is quite simple - knowing what I have makes it possible for me to make choices about how to spend the hours.

I have come to realise that the discipline of counting my blessings is a very necessary part of my spiritual discipline. I can easily loose perspective on my life, forgetting that all that I have and all that I am is a gift from God. Sometimes I can allow the pressures and challenges around me rob me of the joy of living... I recently heard that some Methodist colleagues were discussing me and that one of them commented that I had 'sold out' the Church by taking on my current position outside of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa.

My first reaction to this was hurt, if only they understood that I could have taken much easier (certainly in terms of my ability, skill, and the challenges that I face in the Church) and more lucrative position (with housing provided, a good stipend, a better medical aid, schooling benefits for my children and a host of other blessings) in a Church in which I was already serving at the time I decided to move... Yet, I chose to take on my current post because I wanted to add value and make a difference in a sphere of society that the Church was not reaching. It was certainly not a financial decision! I felt hurt and upset - misunderstood and unfairly judged. But then, I remembered Hester (watch the video) and decided to take some time to count my blessings and give thanks.

I gave thanks for the friends who cared enough to talk about me even when I was not able to be present. I gave thanks for the many friends who call me, send me messages, pray for me, and speak truths to keep me on the 'straight and narrow'. I thank God for them, and in giving thanks I was given the power to choose how to react.

And so, I chose to thank God for these friends, even those who misunderstand what I do. I thanked God for the opportunity that I have in my current position to influence and change powerful systems and people all over the world. It is an incredible honour, and responsibility, the be able to subtly influence the organizations within which I operate (and that includes the denomination of which I remain a minister, the Methodist Church of Southern Africa). I chose not to be angry. I chose to do my best to understand why who I am and what I do may be misunderstood, and that I could chose to make a difference. I count that a blessing!

Well, if you want to see the Helderberg Mountains, and me with a beard, take a quick look at this video on counting your blessings....

Thanks for stopping by. I count your visit as a blessing!

Comments

[Rock in the Grass (Pete Grasso]

Hey D
I have found it unhelpful to listen to second-hand stories. If I was not in the conversation I have no clue if it was relayed accurately to me, what the context was of the conversation, and the motive behind the person bringing me the story. (You know - reading behind the text, in front of the text etc.) I have found it helpful to say to the person relaying the skinder to me "so why do you think I need to know this?", or alternatively - "So why did you not defend my character?".

And anyway - I am so full of shit that people can say almost anything about me and they will be partly right - and partly wrong! Hell: I do not even understand myself all of the time.

Laugh it off boet.

[digitaldion (Dion Forster)]

Thanks Pete!

I always appreciate your insights and wisdom! Indeed, I never thought to ask why I should know this bit of information!

One thing I know about you, my friend, is that you talk straight! I always know where I am with you. I appreciate that.

Thanks for the comment.

Love and blessing,

D