Be thankful, they say.

Be thankful, they say. 

When you sit in line for 1.5 hours waiting to get 1/8 a tank of gas and finally reach the front of the line, only to be told they have run out of gas for the day and to come back tomorrow. 

Be thankful, they say. 

When you go to the grocery store and the prices have tripled in a week. When nuts, soymilk, whole grain products, and most fruit are out of your budget now.

Be thankful, they say. 

When everything is sold on the black market at 12x the original price from shoes to soap to shampoo. 

Be thankful, they say. 

When hospitals stop accepting your health insurance and you have to drive to multiple places to find one that still does. 

Be thankful, they say. 

When a simple burger with fries costs $25. 

Be thankful, they say. 

When a car repair takes your month's salary. 

Be thankful, they say. 

When sanitary pads cost $11 for a package of 16. 

Be thankful, they say. 

When you have been informed that the budget does not allow for the a/c that was promised more than a year ago, until after the hot season is over. And your apartment only has 2 fans.

Be thankful, they say.

When friends share their worries with you about medical bills, when you see the anxiety on people's faces, when gun fights at gas stations feature prominently in the Telegram group you follow, when mothers are afraid they will not be able to find powdered milk for their babies, when old people beg at street corners for a bit of money and young men dig through garbage dumpsters looking for a bit of food to feed their families. 

Be thankful, they say. 

Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? ~James 2:15, 16

Just as faith without acts is a dead faith, so too is telling someone to be thankful when they are faced with extraordinary difficulties. Not only are we struggling with the pandemic everyone else is struggling with, we are facing an economic crisis that is "among the world’s three worst since the mid-1800s" according to the World Bank and The New York Times. How can you look someone in the eye, who does not know if tomorrow their salary will cover their essentials because the prices are skyrocketing out of control, and tell them Be thankful? How can you say, Others have life more difficult than you, when this is possibly the hardest that person is experiencing right now? 

What do we need? Understanding and empathy, above all. Then let's work together as best we know how to help each other. 

*Note, Prices have been calculated based on a median average salary and official syndicate rate.