Sometimes I like to grumble.  Most people like to grumble.  I think it is one of those negative human responses.  When “things are just not going our way” and we get exasperated, we grumble. 

In today’s First Reading from Exodus, the Israelites -“the people” -grumbled against Moses because they felt he was failing them as a leader.  They had no water to drink.  That’s a pretty serious situation and they had a right to grumble.  But most of the time in our lives, we grumble over very minor issues or events. And instead of appreciating what we have, we would rather grumble about what we don’t have.

Take the weather:  If it is a nice sunny day with a 75 degree temperature, everyone is happy.  If is a cold rainy day with temperatures in the 40s, like we had with the Nor’easter on Friday, we are inclined to say that the weather is “horrible”.  Horrible? Not really.  The rain, helped fill the reservoirs; it helped nourish the trees and plants; it helped wash away and settle dust.  We need to appreciate the fact that we did have rain.  Just ask the people in parched areas if they would think a rain storm was horrible. Yet, we grumble.

How many times have we have forlornly looked in our kitchen refrigerators or cabinets and came to the conclusion that there was “nothing” to eat.  Nothing?  Not really.  There might be food that we would rather not eat at that particular time.  Or it could be that what we have is going to take time or imagination to prepare and we just don’t want to be bothered.  But most of us at STM are fortunate to have food in our homes.  Just show people in distressed famine areas what we have and ask them if there is nothing to eat. Yet, we grumble.

Our lives are filled with these petty little responses.  This Lenten season, I pray in thanksgiving that I will appreciate more what God has given me and my family.  I will express my gratitude to those who have helped me.  For the remainder of Lent, I am going to give up grumbling.  With the grace of God, maybe forever.