Paying the Blessings Forward

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 3:29 pm by Alissa Wilkinson

Paying the Blessings Forward 2015-03-13T15:29:34-05:00 Alissa Wilkinson

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As a college professor, I work very hard at relatively low pay relative to my education, and when the semester is in full swing, I am afforded little time for my own interests and pursuits. I don’t sleep much. I have to sit in committee meetings. Sometimes it’s easy to wake up and feel sorry for myself.

But then again, I get summers off, and a month at Christmas, and I get to spend my days thinking and writing and talking and listening to mostly young people ages 18-22, and I get to work and be friends with with some of the most interesting people I’ve ever met. So there’s an awful lot to my job that sound luxurious to others – and I am keenly aware of that blessing.

Sam Van Eman has some marvelous things to say over at The High Calling about the kinds of luxuries that some young professionals have, and paying them forward:

Current legislative activity stands to affect this statistic in the future. I can’t say whether it should or shouldn’t. However, I do know that when I finished reading my employee policy manual, I thought to myself, “I was sick and you looked after me” (Matthew 25:36). Privilege came to mind. Gratitude came to mind. The combination of Jesus’ promise to heal and my employer’s generous contribution to the process—luxuries, both.

How do I pay these luxuries forward?

In the developed world, we all have some luxuries associated with our occupations – a living wage first among them, for a lot of us. How do you pay those blessings forward?

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