Like this:

“There’s a popular bumper sticker that reads “God Bless America,” but hasn’t America already been blessed? it’s easy for us to fall into a mindset of viewing “our” world as “the” world, because it’s all we generally see. we’re constantly bombarded with images of the latest styles and models of everything, and it can easily leave us feeling like what we have isn’t enough because we see people that have even more than us. But how does what we have compare to what most people in the world have? Maybe what we have is enough; maybe it’s more than enough. Maybe God has blessed us with everything we have so we can bless and give to others.”

This is a section from the Rob Bell Nooma entitled ‘Rich.’ I’ve watched it and used it many times and always gone “Hmmm, yes, I agree.” I really do agree and always have but it’s taken something short and stupid like this water challenge for me to really understand. I’ve spent time among the poor and am not naive about how they live. I am not oblivious to the decadence with which we live. I have travelled and studied but the power of the lesson learnt from this week has taken me by surprise.

For the most part this week I have lived the way I always have. I haven’t been cold or hungry. I haven’t been sick or even thirsty. In the morning I will go back to normal. We are pretty careful with water generally so little will change there but what I can say, hand on heart and without even a hint of an exaggeration, is tomorrow when I shower, I will know that I am rich.

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