Thankful for the Mundane

Yesterday morning could not have been more mundane for the Huang household. I woke up, prayed and read the Bible, sped through Game 5 of the World Series while exercising, got the kids set up for a half-hour of watching Wall-E on DVD (courtesy of our Netflix subscription), fed them an eclectic breakfast of Fruity Cheerios, yogurt, granola, cantaloupe, fruit juice, and a children’s vitamin, and got their jackets and shoes on. Amy drove Jada to her school, and Aaron and I walked to his, stopping by the polling place down the street to cast our vote for one of the more low-key November elections in recent memory. (The only major races were for District Attorney and Controller.)

Yet as I make my way through this week’s Economist, and stay on top of the morning paper as well as updates from Reuters, I cannot help but marvel at how foreign the paragraph above would be for so many in the world. Poor economic policies, natural disasters, and military strife make a breakfast of cereal, juice, and fruit an impossible luxury for hundreds of millions. Expressing one’s religious beliefs through prayer and study of a holy text are acts worthy of punishment or even death in a surprising number of countries in the world. And far too many citizens, particularly of Arab countries, cannot count on a fair election, safe access to cast one’s vote, or educational opportunities for their sons and (particularly) their daughters.

And so it feels good to feel glad for yesterday morning. And I am reminded to pray that more and more around the world can have the luxury of such activities becoming mundane in their communities and countries.