The Second Gaze - Spoon

Spoons are not something I think about a lot.  In fact, my theme for Monday was “spoon” and I read it in the morning and then totally forgot about it until I was having breakfast yesterday morning.  I normally make a smoothie in the morning but everyone was sleeping and we were low on orange juice, so cereal it was.  I’m eating my cereal and reading some things on line and as I’m crunching away I realize that I’m using a spoon.  Funny how there are those things in life that we grow so used to that we take them for granted.  It got me thinking the rest of the day about some of those things like spoons in my life.  The heat that turns on from our furnace on a cold winter day.  The clothes I can choose from to wear. The warm gloves I put on when going out. The food in our cabinets, fridge, and freezer.  Being able to walk into a store and to not arouse suspicions simply because of how I look.  Having healthcare.  The list could continue. 

But what I hear as I share that list is a reminder of the privilege that I have that I can take these things for granted. It is a conviction that one of my responsibilities is to work towards how all people may be able to take these same things as a matter of the normal course of life.