Could Be Worse!

BY MARK

When our kids were young, one of my favorite books to read to them was entitled “Could Be Worse” by James Stevenson.   In the book, “Grandpa” always responded to any complaint from the grandkids with the same phrase: “Could be worse!”  Whether the grandkids had a splinter or were bemoaning a lost kite, the response from imperturbable Grandpa was the same:  “Could be worse!”  As the kids began thinking that Grandpa was “one dimensional”, he fabricated a fabulous tale about being attacked by the abominable snowman, being carried away by a giant bird and being trapped under the sea.  The adventure continues as the grandkids hang on every turn of the story until Grandpa arrives back to his home.  Shocked and amazed, the young ones were asked by Grandpa what they thought of his fanciful story.  “Could be worse!” they responded in unison.

Kathy and I returned to the US from Haiti for Christmas this year just a couple of days prior to the big day.  The hustle and bustle were close to frantic level, with our friends, family and us performing at our peak velocities to get everything completed.  As all of us began tiring of the “seasonal pace”, we started hearing some all–too-common complaints: “The stores don’t have what we want!”  “I’ll be glad when this is over!”  “The traffic is crazy!” and—well, you know the list.  Sometimes I was the one complaining as well and wondering what had happened to me in the short time after I returned to the US.  Kathy and I had just spent significant time with Haitian friends who lived daily with food insecurity, with untreated medical conditions, with inadequate shelter, with abusive situations, and with governmental instability.   Why was I whining that the guy in the 10 items or less line actually had 14 items??  As I reflected I realized that so often I lose the perspective of how fortunate we are to have an abundance of our physical comfort and physically necessary materials so easily accessible.  I so often allow a minor inconvenience to take on a life of its own, and overshadow the abundant blessings that are so obvious, but overlooked.  Definitely, it “could be worse”!  Prosperity does not buy happiness any more than poverty defines unhappiness.  To me it seems that the happiest individuals whom we have met are the ones who are “blessings aware” with hope that the next day may be even better than the one before. It is easy to lose that perspective and believe that I am in the “worse” category of  “could be worse!”

We have a friend who physically lives in poverty but spiritually lives in prosperity.  Five members of her family live in a small hut with a dirt floor, and sleep huddled on mats.  They have a happy family and feel blessed.  One of the family members saw an old, somewhat tattered, twin mattress that we had in storage at the clinic and wondered that if we couldn’t use it, could she have it.  Our friend expressed that she realized that other people might need it more than they did (aka “could be worse”), so if we needed to keep it that was fine with them.  After debating this request for about 3 milliseconds, we decided to give the mattress to the family.  The gift of one, well-used twin mattress for five people was received with not only a hug, but with tears and a small dance of joy.   They now could take turns sleeping on their mattress! The family was excited for the gift of comfort for each other.

This story (and many others like it) makes me realize just how poor I am!  Yes, you read that correctly, how poor I am. For some reason, I am often “joy impoverished” as I forget just how blessed I am.  I am poor in spirit as I complain about the minor things of life and forget the hope that we are given for a better day ahead. I forget that there is a God who personally cares about each breath I take. 

My prayer for all of us in 2017 is that we are “blessings aware” and remember those around us who are physically and spiritually impoverished.  “Grandpa” ’s perspective is correct in that it nearly always ”could be worse”, but I hope that we can put a more positive spin on it and remember that we serve a God who, no matter how “worse” it is, can always give hope for an impoverished one-- like me.