Today, while peeling an orange, I thought about people who lived centuries ago, who never tasted an orange.

Or a banana.

Or ice cream.

Those who struggled to breathe on their death beds without the remedy of penicillin.

Those who went to war without a cell phone to call home.

Those who died in childbirth and premature babies who did not live without access to what we have today.

And more.

This doesn’t make the pain better. But it does give perspective.

God spoke about an eternal perspective and living daily with a view of eternity in sight.

That’s because God knows we need to look ahead in order to survive the pain.

Way ahead of here and now.

Without pausing to reflect about people who lived without the small and big things available to us, we get self absorbed for too long.

It’s up to us to reflect and remember so we don’t become consumed with hopelessness.

There is a last chapter and it’s not written yet.

Meanwhile, God comforts us until that day in eternity.