Every once in a while, I hear people say, post or write “I am blessed” when good things happen to them.  But the easy – and often casual – use of that term – which suggests to the listener/reader that the Almighty has pulled some strings to provide benefit to a “special person” – feels a bit uncomfortable . . . . .

I am lucky.  Fortunate.  To be who I am.  To be living at this place in time.  This geography.  With my family.  In my post of April 9, 2015, I spoke of the lottery of birth.   This relates to each one of us. The twinkling spark that became YOU – or me – may have something to do with blessing.  But tell me why some good, faithful people in the world live painful and arduous lives?  Why do some souls endure suffocating poverty.  Hunger.  Violence.  Injustice.  Serious illness. Accidents. Are they less “blessed”?  In the words of Rabbi Harold Kushner, why do bad things happen to good people?    

I acknowledge God’s presence in my life.  And I do not discount our “blessings.” But how do we describe some poor person’s — or our own — misfortune? The lack of “blessing”? Or bad luck. . . . I’m just askin’ . . . . .