Day 23: Monday, Week 4—Complaints

Exodus 15:22-27; Psalm 107:1-16; Hebrews 3:1-6

In 1964, my family, a neighbor, and a friend headed out in our 1960 Ambassador station wagon to San Francisco where our neighbor would be a delegate to the Republican convention at the Cow Palace. We were not going directly to the convention. We were off to see the sights and visit family along the way. We were headed for San Diego and work our way north.

From the beginning, there were problems. Our friend had never traveled economy class; the rest of us were all about economy. Our friend liked restaurants; we stopped at grocery stores for bread and lunchmeat and ate in parks. Our friend liked motels, at least; we slept in the car rotating drivers and sleepers as we went. Our friend liked to stretch out and move around; we drove for hours stopping only for gas or when someone needed to use the bathroom.

As we left Las Vegas, our friend complained that she hadn’t had enough time at the casino to get even. In the mountains, she complained about the roads. In the lowlands of California, the weather was too hot. She was not excited about visiting our family members or other friends. San Francisco was too cold. Finally, in Carson City on the way home she got a ticket on the Greyhound bus and rode home alone.

We laugh at the Israelites many times, shaking our heads in wonder. “How could they be so silly?” Yet we often complain about the simplest things. We complain about the weather. We complain about taxes, politicians, food prices, gas prices, and medical bills.

“Okay, the water was bitter, but really? It was water.”

A friend recently returned from a trip to Mexico. He said, “Each time I return I am overwhelmed by how wealthy I am and how rich we are as a nation. I am not sure that I would even know how to get by on the amount of money these people live on.”

Prayer

Lord, we are tempted to count life’s shortcomings instead of your blessings. As we walk together in the communities you give us, help us notice the strengths and the gifts in our neighborhoods and the communities where we are. Amen