The source of our resources

By Beena George

After so many years I was passing along that highway again – a road I used to travel so often during my college days. I used to wait for a spectacular sight: parallel to the road, there was a huge river that flowed gently and majestically. On the other side there was a canal, carrying water to the distant rural land. Unlike other canals, this one was almost always flowing. I felt so happy for the canal. It was the sole instrument of making an otherwise drought-prone land so fertile. I imagined how proud this canal must be, a reaching hundreds of villages and creating lives so green and lush.

As the road turned towards the river, I was so excited. But to my dismay, the canal had dried up! It had become a dumping ground for the villagers. All the flora and fauna that used to garland the canal had vanished. I imagined how sad the canal would be to see me, her long lost friend, in such a miserable state. All became a story of bygone days – an instrument that gave life to so many was now forgotten.

In her days of glory and abundance, I wonder whether the canal realised the she was only a channel; and the life giving resources she carried to the rural lands were never her own. It made me think about myself.

Do I realise I am only a channel? Do I appreciate the ideas and the resources that I bring to others are not my own. Do I acknowledge the source of resources? Do I realise they can be withdrawn in a matter of seconds?

This week, let’s live each moment acknowledging God as the sole source of all our resources. Let’s be grateful to be a channel of his grace. Let this year be a year of thankfulness.