Summer is meant to be care-free, relaxing, a nice break. Isn't it? Aren't I entitled to the right to experience the freedom the word summer implies? Many 20-year-olds are filling their schedules with camping trips, beach weekends, spontaneous adventures full of excitement... so I should be able to as well. Right??
Earlier today I was trying to explain the concept of entitlement to a 4-year-old who seemed to think that just because he wanted a new coloring page meant that he deserved to have it. Now, there's a difference between a child's desire to immediate gratification (a.k.a. impatience) as oppsed to an innate instinct to think oneself as deserving of certain rights. I deal with a lot of impatient children who are fairly easy to calm with the reminder of "let's be patient," but I find it much more difficult to address the deeply rooted belief of self-entitlement. Where do they get the idea of "I deserve it"? Better yet, where do I get the idea that I deserve a relaxing summer?
Of course, a typical response is "life isn't fair," but I'm not convinced this is the best answer. Should life be fair? Injustice, anger, frustration, and sadness rage constantly throughout our world. If life was "fair" shouldn't I experience trauma to a much greater degree? I have been blessed with an easy life in comparison to others, and if life was really "fair" I could just as quickly be in a worse situation than I am now as opposed to someone in immense suffering being elevated to a place of overall security. Either case could be deemed "fair," right? Instead of feeling victimized by meager misfortunes, I've been challenged to view injustices as a chance to extend blessings. (Not that I think a busy summer is an "injustice" to me... I've planned my own schedule and determined my own agenda so I really can't complain! I'm just at the point where I wish I would have allowed myself a bit more time to relax... here I face regret, not bitterness towards an injustice).
But sometimes I live with the idea that I am entitled to freedom on all levels just because I see someone else living the way I wish I could live. One author articulted this concept quite well, "That we expect fairness throughout our lives is obvious, but one has to wonder if expecting fairness is really the right way to approach life. The world reeks of unfairness and injustice, and maybe identifying injustice in our journey is part of what makes life such an adventure. I believe that when we identify injustice, God places in our hearts the desire to do something about it. That pulling toward justice is what motivates us to become more involved in the world as caretakers of God’s creation. It’s navigating through those injustices that we have our greatest learning experiences, and often injustice is what strikes the spark in our hearts to find ways to make corrections.
Maybe the reason God put this sense of fairness into our hearts is so that we would look around the world and see all of the injustice and in seeing it, be called to action. If we aren’t called to action, we certainly should be, but it’s true that we sometimes ignore the call or are too busy to notice the inequities that surround us." ~April Terry
I love that Terry encourages others to use the feeling of injustice or frustration as a motivating means of action. I would like to emphasize, however, that a desire for fairness should also cause us to evaluate if we really want life to be fair. When I realize what I truly am "entitled" to based on the wretched sins I've committed, the disdainful attitudes I've held, the corruptness of my mind... I deserve to be punished. Forever. But I have been given GRACE. Through Christ's power enabling me to set aside my pride, I have accepted that grace.
The freedom that summer often implies echos an idealistic, skewed perception of reality. By recognizing what I deserve and acknowleding the beauty of what I have been given instead elicits an undescribable and insurmountable joy. Now I can live in Freedom.
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