What if you feel lucky?

What if time and chance have been good to you?

In our twenties, Joyce and I were part of a church that got bit by the world missions bug. All of the sudden, our soft American friends were moving to places like Bombay, Moscow, and remote parts of Africa. When they came back, they painted a picture of life on the other side of the world — a life with a lot more poverty, sickness, unclean water, broken systems, unfinished buildings, poor education, and much less freedom.

We listened carefully. We felt pampered. We felt the weight of our privilege.

Then we drove home in our air-conditioned car, walked into our safe, spacious apartment, and opened our well-stocked refrigerator.

Ugh. We were so lucky. What do we do

?

Do we feel guilty?

Do we wallow in the inequity of the world?

Do we look away so we don’t have to be reminded?

Do we tell ourselves that luck’s got nothing to do with it — that we earned all this — and that relying on fortune is for the lazy?

No. We chose none of those.

We bowed our heads in gratitude.

We raised our head to say, “Thank you.”

We offered a hand. Actually — two hands. We got them dirty.

We forewent some pleasures, sacrificed where we could, and gave until it was painful. Not to silence guilt — but to acknowledge and empathize with disparity.

We didn’t squander what we had been given. We worked harder.

We acknowledged that boundary lines had fallen for us in pleasant places — and that such lines weren’t meant to fence us in, but to free us up—to give.

We adopted a humble posture, knowing how little in this world we actually controlled.

So now, forty years later…

We try to stay humble.

We try to stay grateful.

We try to work harder, sacrifice more, and give generously.

And I use the word “try” deliberately. Because that’s what it is — a try. It’s an effort. It’s our intention. It is our heart.

Join us if you will.

Not for a particular cause. I have none. But for all causes. For whatever opportunity comes across your path. If it is within your power to make a difference, give.

Because the race is not to the swift — though we want to be as swift as we can.
The battle is not to the strong — though we want to be as strong as we can.
Food does not always come to the wise.
Wealth does not always come to the brilliant.
Favor does not always come to the learned.
But time and chance happen to us all.

And when time and chance have been good to us … lets do the right thing.