Unearned blessings

More than two decades ago when I was at university in South Africa, a friend and I were discussing the ethics of owning a luxury car.

“As soon as I can afford the repayments,” he said, “I am going to buy a fancy BMW.”
“Why would you want to do that?”
“By then my hard work will have earned me the right to enjoy a little luxury,” was the reply.

At the time, I can remember wondering whether he had earned the right to be born into a privileged race and a family that had the means to send him to university. How would his life have differed if he had been the son of an HIV positive, single mother living in Soweto? 

So many of the things we take for granted were neither earned nor deserved. Most good things are granted to us as a gift. We don’t earn them.

A few years ago, we were driving though a tiny Zimbabwean village called Bromley. Suddenly, my eye was drawn to a dog that was running towards the road. I braked and hooted.

“It’s a good thing you hooted when you did,” said Gail, “or that child would have run across the road.”

I hadn’t seen the child. In fact, if I had been on my own, I would have been totally unaware of the catastrophe which had been so narrowly averted.

But let’s not even think about behind-the-scenes-providence. What about the fact that your new-born baby is healthy and normal or that you have never been the victim of violent crime or that your father wasn’t a drunk or that you weren’t born in Homs, Syria?

Who does one thank for such blessings? And will we be called to account one day for the way we played the cards we were dealt in life?

Cheers for now - Ian