Svithe 12: The Gifts of God

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The Mad Svither lives in a land of plenty. He has never gone so long without a meal that he knows desperation. He has never had to go with his glasses taped up. He has never suffered want in any meaningful way.

He has a sense that the world owes him wealth and comfort and satisfaction, and that anything less than American opulence is an insult.

In other words, the Mad Svither recognizes the gifts of God not as something to be grateful for, but as something of a divine right.

For shame.

One of the Mad Svither's great problems is his sense of entitlement, an overwhelming sense of I Deserve that colors his world in shades of ego and expectation. Instead of looking to bless and serve, he finds it too easy to look down on the unfortunate and to treat his own misfortune as an incomprehensible anomaly, rather than, perhaps, the necessary results of his poorly planned actions.

This world was created to function according to the principles of cause and effect, with a guiding principle: Choice.

"Behold," says Christ, "here is wisdom, and let every man choose for himself...."

I don't think it's unfair to generalize that scripture to all aspects of our lives. It is given unto us to choose--and we are expected to choose the good, to choose the gifts of God.

We are expected to choose the gifts of God.

God expects us to choose his gifts.

We should not expect any gifts save we choose them first. And choice requires action.

Sorry.

I'm not lecturing you.

I'm lecturing me.

The only problem is, the Mad Svither never listens.

And that's a poor choice indeed.





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