Our church family includes a high Mandarin population, and every so often, when one of those members of our congregation acts as Pastor’s Assistant, we are treated to a refreshingly “real” interpretation of various phrases in the English language. Last Sunday was a such a morning; our Chinese-Canadian sister led us through a prayer of adoration in which she proclaimed “Father God, everything we have are from you!”
As I reflected on the probably unintentional “abundance” of the extra plural in the sentence, it occurred to me that many of us do indeed have so much more than we could hope or imagine. I myself have much to be thankful for… two healthy, happy, exciting children, an interesting job and compassionate and engaging work colleagues… a supportive husband, loving friendships and a decent apartment with enough beds for every body to rest in… a spectacular view of the city and the lake, including gorgeous sunrises each morning…. In summer, I get to go to a beautiful house overlooking the sand dunes of Greenwich, PEI, and walk along the ocean, and this morning, I woke up with the usually wagging tail of my friendly (if somewhat high-maintenance) beagle draped lovingly across my neck – what more could I ask for?!
Truly, Lord, everything we have “are” from you!
As I reflected on the probably unintentional “abundance” of the extra plural in the sentence, it occurred to me that many of us do indeed have so much more than we could hope or imagine. I myself have much to be thankful for… two healthy, happy, exciting children, an interesting job and compassionate and engaging work colleagues… a supportive husband, loving friendships and a decent apartment with enough beds for every body to rest in… a spectacular view of the city and the lake, including gorgeous sunrises each morning…. In summer, I get to go to a beautiful house overlooking the sand dunes of Greenwich, PEI, and walk along the ocean, and this morning, I woke up with the usually wagging tail of my friendly (if somewhat high-maintenance) beagle draped lovingly across my neck – what more could I ask for?!
Truly, Lord, everything we have “are” from you!
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