Let us come before him with thanksgiving.
Many years I recall opening my mouth wide and staring at the ceiling in my dentist’s office while enduring more dental work than I ever dreamed possible. All because of a kernel of popcorn gone awry that I inadvertently crunched down hard on some twenty-five years ago. That little decision to munch on those burnt kernels cost me. Over and over and over again.
The story goes like this; I bit down on the itsy-bitsy burnt kernel and felt a pain surge through my jaw. Unbeknownst to me, I had cracked a filling I’d had since I was a kid. My next dental checkup revealed the damaged filling needed replacing with a pricey gold crown. Some months later, I cracked the tooth under the said pricey crown and never felt it break. Which then led to a permanent bridge over three teeth. This bridge became part of me for over twenty-three years.
Little Decisions Can Be Costly
Then during a routine checkup, an x-ray revealed the bridge was loose which meant it had to come off, which meant wrenching it off with some pretty mighty muscle power, which meant I shuddered every time I played that gruesome scenario over in my mind. Over the next few months, I went in, and in again, and yet again to have a tooth repaired, a root canal completed, a post inserted, and another permanent bridge made covering four of my teeth. Each time they tilted the chair back and told me to open wide, I regretted that one little decision to eat that kernel of popcorn. Who would have thought that I would still be paying for that inconsequential choice over a quarter of a century later?
Aside from the cost of this dental work, I paid in full (plus some) by feeling anxious, wary, and downright confined (physically, emotionally, and financially) during these procedures. I realized I was at the mercy of my dentist and his technician because once the dental work begins there is no turning back. I also recognized I was at the mercy of our bank account because our dental insurance didn’t near touch the cost of this work.
Life Is Full Of Little Interruptions
To say I felt frustrated with myself would be an understatement. While this whole experience wasn’t one of life and death proportions, it necessarily altered my life in little ways for months on end. As I sat in that dental chair, I gave a lot of thought as to how our choices confine us more than we realize.
One small decision can bring sudden and immediate consequences we’d not anticipated. One tiny choice can domino into a hundred more weighty fall-outs. A single extravagant splurge can set us back for months on end. Like it or not, our choices either set us free or they confine and then confound us.
Less Can Be More
While I hope I never, ever, have to endure all those long hours in a dental chair again, I will say those hours when I had my mouth open (but couldn’t say a word) gave me plenty of time to silently mull over the blessing of living with less and the freedom that comes along with that lifestyle.
How often do we consider our material prosperity as one of the main hindrances to our faith? Do we ever even think about the disparity of what we have (and consume) as citizens in the U.S. compared to the rest of the world? The fact is there have been a number of studies that show a direct correlation between increased material goods and inner dissatisfaction.
We Find Our Joy In God Alone
Amazing that we can gain more stuff by way of being over-zealous consumers and yet wind up unhappier than ever says a lot about the power of our choices and how our hearts affect our decisions. One choice, a single decision, over time, adds up to a lifetime of being confined by our stuff or set free by embracing an attitude of contentment.
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