"It's all gift"

Many years ago, a dear mentor and friend reminded me of this fact: "It's all gift." As I begin this blog, I look back on the year 2012 and the year to come. I reflect on the gifts of life- of home, family, meaningful work, music, the earth we stand on that supplies our food, our water, our air.

I am,  however, a two-word (at least) person. Paired with my hope is my skepticism, or realism. Two evenings ago, I spent an hour reading about rape in India, the incredibly high rate of domestic abuse in North Korea, and the statistics of gun violence in our own country (not to mention that rape in the United States is even more prevalent than in India). The temptation is to close our eyes from it all, to be content in our private worlds, to concern our selves with things that seem closer to home or to escape in hope for a better world to come.

Saying "It's all gift" doesn't mean dishonesty. It doesn't mean creating a glittery gift box to protect ourselves or adorning the days with the power of positive thinking. One can still see the gift in the midst of suffering. I call it grace and it's nothing I can bring about on my own. It is a gift abounding, a gift undeserved.

I'll share matters of faith on this blog, not out belief that my faith or traditions are the only right ones, but because so much of what I value and why I value it stems from a belief in a power greater than my own. For example,  I care about domestic violence because I believe men and women are created in the imago Dei as equal partners. Anything that violates this equality needs our attention as people of faith. This includes theologies that on the surface seem harmless, but that shape a belief in domination rather than cooperation.

In thanksgiving for the gifts abounding in my life and in the life of the world, I'm taking the blogging plunge. See you in 2013.