“Every day is a gift” is a phrase we often hear yet seldom
comprehend. We don’t wake up each morning and think about the fact that we are
breathing, or that our heart is beating, sending blood full of vital nutrients
throughout our veins. We rarely contemplate the mystic way we can be immersed
in the foreign world of dreams one moment and then seconds later open our eyes
and be vividly aware of the tangible world of pressing demands and
responsibilities. No, we don’t normally view our first breath of the morning as
a gift, nor the sequence of breaths that faithfully follow even as we once
again close our eyes and drift off to sleep at the end of the day.
At least I don’t.
My first awakening thought may be a prayer, or on rare
occasions a song may resound through my mind, but more often than not my day is
greeted with thoughts of what I plan to do or what I think needs to be
done. And the beauty of the gift
of life itself slips right through my fingers as I get up out of bed and start
on the day’s agenda.
Yet every once in a while, life itself reminds us of the
gift she truly is. It happens when we are abruptly, and seemingly cruelly,
thrust from our routine and faced with the reality that this breath we breathe,
this heart that beats faithfully pushing life’s blood through our bodies to
keep us alive, could be snuffed out. It happens when circumstances beyond our
control alter our very lifestyle or claim our last breath or that of someone we
love.
I don’t want to imply that we should morbidly proceed throughout
each day with a fear of tragedy or death. On the contrary, Jesus himself told
us that He came so we could have a full and abundant life. But it is almost
impossible to perceive our lives as “full and abundant” without, at least
periodically, recognizing the value of each breath. It is this awareness that helps put each day in its proper
perspective. It’s what turns stressful frenzy into a more peaceful approach to
our challenging circumstances. And more importantly, it’s what gives us deep
insight into the miraculous creatures that we are and the incredible God who so
meticulously formed us in His image.
So just maybe, each morning, I should awaken and breathe my
first breaths of the day consciously reminding myself to be grateful for a
heart that beats and the gift of life given to me by a loving Creator.
