Morning Thought 5
Friday 31st Dec 2021
Good morning over the years of
working with Mustard Seed Jersey I have learned to recognize the signs of
poverty. One sign is the inability to pay for basic medication and medical
procedures.
In our Christmas appeal for the last
few years we have highlighted that need for medical help and invited people to
make donations not just to pack shoeboxes not just to buy food parcels and
bread or to provide winter fuel and heating but also to help with potentially
life-saving medication or medical procedures.
Sometimes that medical money may be
used to provide medication for a pensioner who cannot afford to pay for it;
other times it may be used for surgery. But what I have noticed over the years is
that every time the social workers send requests for money for medical needs, there are invariably requests for
comparatively small things like eye tests and spectacles for both young and
old, money for cataract surgery and for help to provide hearing aids for both
the young and the old.
We frequently grumble here in Jersey
but based on some of the unmet needs in countries like Romania among the
poorest that I have come across, I feel it is good and appropriate to end this
year with thankfulness.
Let’s be Thankful for the many
blessings and benefits we have. Let’s appreciate the health care we have
available here. Let’s Be Grateful for the opportunities we have on this island.
But most of all I am grateful to God
for his gift of love in sending Jesus as a baby at Christmas 2000 years ago and
for who that child grew up to become and what his life means to Christians
worldwide.
Psalm 107 opens with Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his
loves endures forever.