God Knows Our Hearts

"You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of people, but God knows your hearts." Luke 16:15

In these difficult financial times, everyone is talking about money and their anxiety about the future. Everybody seems to be able to strike up conversations with strangers, in doctors offices and in line at the post office, about money. Every news broadcast I have watched in the past few weeks has talked about the failing economy and the loss of jobs. It is everywhere, and everybody seems to have an opinion on who to blame. I know that long before we admitted to the crisis, it was there. Long before the failure of investment firms and banks, it was there. We have been flying high as a country on the backs of the poor and day laborers, and only now are we noticing the crisis. But greed and selfishness came on the scene much earlier, and we acknowledged them as good qualities. Anything and everything to get ahead financially. And now we deal with the consequences, but God knew what was in our hearts all along. We had set aside compassion, so that we might be safe. We set aside generosity so that we could indulge. We set aside tender living for glamor. And still God knows our hearts.

There have been times in my life when we have been very challenged financially. And I know the only way that we have recovered was through the grace of God. We have struggled, and in the struggling learned what is most precious - relationships - with God and with our loved ones. The priceless gifts from God are never monetary, but are flesh, blood and spirit. God graced us with unmatchable gifts in our lovely daughters, our lively friends,and our tender companions on the way. Without them, life would be empty, no matter how financially stable we might be. Recovery and the road ahead are all in God's hands.

Today, I simply want to be grateful for the amazing riches in my life. For a dear loving husband, who is also my best friend, for incredible daughters who give their lives for the transformation of others, for a loving and quirky family, full of forgiveness and surprises, and all the faithful pilgrims I have met on the road. I know that these times and all times are in God's hand. I pray today for the eyes to see the enormous and abundant wealth that surrounds me, and the heart to be grateful in the wonder of it all.