Live Rich

I recently heard this quote by pastor and writer Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who lived and died during World War II:

“In ordinary life we hardly realize that we receive a great deal more than we give, and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich.”

So much is communicated in that one sentence that I needed to take it apart.

“In ordinary life we hardly realize…”

Why? What is it about me that I don’t realize all I am receiving?

Maybe it’s because I take much of life as given. My eyes will see when they open in the morning. My legs should support me as I step out of bed. Water, of course, will come out of the faucet when I turn the handle. And electricity is, well, just there. After all, I paid the bill.

Are you, like me, shocked at how much stability evaporates when there is a simple power outage? I suddenly convert to survival mode. Living on a well, no electricity means I am without water as well as heat and light. Tragedy!

I read that the average grocery store contains about 3-5 days worth of provisions for its surrounding area. Should snow halt the many daily delivery trucks, you will quickly find only packaged rye crackers and canned lentils are on the shelves.

The coffee or chocolate I consumed today was grown in a separate hemisphere. Hardworking individuals prepared the soil, nurtured the plants, and harvested the beans which were then roasted, processed, packaged, and shipped. Risk-takers conceived of, invested in, and grew the business where I made the purchase. All of this so I could enjoy my special moment. But as I enter the store, they are out of my favorite flavor. Someone needs to be fired!

…we receive a great deal more than we give

Think about this. And let’s take the perpetual sustaining care of a benevolent God out of the equation. What have I received and who from?

Food, shelter, care, provision in my growing years.

An education, training, modeling and mentorship.

The time and place I was born into and the people who made it so.

Roads, water towers, sewers, trash collection.

Local government, taxes, fire stations and EMTs.

Currency, businesses, shipping services, and supply chains.

I am only scratching the service.

I have often walked through large cities and marveled: “How does all this work?” Consider how many people flush their toilets at the same time, and it all goes… somewhere. Who can conceive of the hundreds of millions of miles of cable that enable a city’s power and communication to function—not just in the big picture, but for apartment #331 in building G of a three block complex?

Someone invented the locomotive and the microchip, x-ray technology and carburetors. These items were not just invented, but manufactured, marketed, transported, and managed. Cities and societies function, however imperfectly, with a complexity that no one person or organization can fully grasp, manage, or control. Yet, I can simply assume it’s always been this way. I am the recipient of the labors, visions, tears, failures, breakthroughs of literally millions of individuals through the decades.

…and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich

I have received so much! We all have. But contentment eludes us. We are seeking to be filled. But the container we are trying to fill has infinite elasticity. The more we pour into the stretchy bag, the larger it grows. And we are still hungry.

Theologically, that is because we were made to only be satisfied with the infinite—that which cannot be measured, which has no beginning or end. But I am getting off point…

Dietrich Bonhoeffer states, “only with gratitude life becomes rich.” That phrase made me ponder.

Rich here is not a measure of quantity received. Rich here is a reveling in a fullness of life. It comes about not by grasping more, but by reflecting on, and expressing appreciation for, all that has been given.

You probably know people like that. I do. Their joy in life seems limitless. They see what I do not. And some live in conditions—physical, relational, material—that I cannot foresee myself enduring. And yet, they are rich.

Dietrich was one. Talented, in love, and recently engaged, this quote comes from a letter he wrote from a Nazi prison cell.

…becomes

If there is hope for me in the Bonhoeffer quote, it is in the word becomes.

“Becomes” is a movement word. It communicates change. Whether slow or fast, continual or interrupted, progress is being made. If I’m not there now, I can be, eventually, incrementally.

So independent of my current view of my circumstances, I can start experiencing a richer life this year, this week, today, by focusing on giving thanks.

That sounds like a worthwhile endeavor in 2026. Thanks Dietrich.