Guess what we get to do today

There's a scene in the movie The Rookie where Dennis Quaid's character is discouraged about his so far frustrating time in the minor leagues so he takes a walk.  He ends up walking past a little league game and remembers what it's all really about.  Back in the locker room, he walks in with restored love in the game and hope in life.  He tells one of his teammates, "Guess what we get to do today.  We get to play baseball." 

I lose track of the great beauty in simple, everyday truths.  I forget what a miracle it is that I exist.  I get caught up in my schedule and my responsibilities, and I forget.  But guess what we get to do today.

We get to be human beings who are self-aware and whose actions can change reality.  Even when it seems like our lives are out of control, we get to decide, for the most part, what our todays look like. 

We get to exist in the twenty-first century with iPhones and computers and wireless internet.  We get to have quicker access to more information that anyone has ever had in history, and we can choose to use these powers for the good of connectivity and community.  We get to have a louder voice and a more accessible soapbox than our ancestors; we don't have to publish our thoughts in books, we get to participate in the ongoing transfer of thoughts, ideas, and information, all the time, whenever we want. 

We get to live on earth.  We get to inhabit the mountains and deserts and plains and forests.  We get to swim in the oceans and lakes and rivers and ponds.  We get to watch the weather and gaze at the stars and climb the rocks and sit under the trees.  The sky turns colors, rivers dig canyons, rain falls, morning comes, birds sing, and we get to witness it all.   We get to breathe the oxygen that trees make for us, for goodness sake. 

We get to coexist with other humans, none of whom are exactly like us.  We get to figure each other out, learn things from each other, strengthen each other, and love each other.  We were born into families to have a shot at belonging from the get-go.  We get to be loved by other humans and accepted by groups and welcomed into tribes.  And even when others don't love or welcome or accept us, our identity doesn't have to be phased one bit because Jesus says we aren't who others say we are; we are who he created from dust and brought into his hope and family and purpose.

We get to open the Word of God and read the history of our faith forefathers, the hope of our good news, and the future of our reality.  We get to rely on the promises of God who gives good gifts to his children and walks with us through fire to refine us into the best versions of ourselves. 

We get to be a part of the body of Christ.  We get to study and worship and work together every day with inspiring people we don't even know, but they have the same mission and life goals as we do: to live and Die for Christ alone and to love others relentlessly. Some of them even die for it, and we get to be a part of all that. We get to be a part of a worldwide movement that started long ago and will never end.

Even on bad days, we serve a God who rebuilds the rubble, who trades beauty for ashes, and who breathed his life into the dust of the ground to bring us into being.  He promises that even when our life is full of garbage, he'll use it for good.  He promises to redeem our mistakes, to change even our past into part of our story for his glory.

We get to be creatures who remember the past, exist in the present, and hope for the future. But we don't have to be prisoners of time, we get to be citizens of eternity. We get to live life to the full forevermore, and we get to share that with others.

Count your blessings, friends.  Take a deep breath, inhale the possibilities, and exhale with hope.  Guess what we get to do today!