Most of us have more than we need. When you consider the basics (a roof over our heads, clothes on our backs and food on the table), pretty much any other material good is a “want” not a “need.”
I have observed over the years that those of us who are materially blessed always think we “need” more. And people we know are struggling for the basics are just grateful for what they have. Recently, CRC supplied a formerly homeless woman with bedding, bath items and kitchenware for her new transitional home. How many of us take sheets for granted? She didn’t. She was deliriously happy. She didn’t care what color they were or even if they fit her bed (which was an air mattress, by the way).
Last summer, we provided new backpacks to at-risk children returning the school. I happened to be at one of the schools receiving the backpacks, a school with a large population of homeless children. One of them came up to the teacher with his backpack in hand and asked if he could give it to another student who needed it more. Compare that to the hysterical midnight shoppers physically shoving each other out of the way to grab a bargain flat-screen TV at those big box retailers on Black Friday.
“Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer.”
― Maya Angelou, Celebrations: Rituals of Peace and Prayer
two chicks in a warehouse 