Recently I saw a sign that had a familiar ring to it.  It was like the “No Smoking” signs: a picture of a lit cigarette encircled by a bold red circle with a bold red slanted line going through the lighted cigarette.  In this case it was the word “No Whining” with the same bold red circle and slanted red line.

I got the message that like the advice not to smoke, the same advice is true of whining: don’t do it! 

The reading in today’s liturgy from the Book of Numbers highlights the fault of whining.  The people in the desert complain, “Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in the desert.  We are  disgusted with this wretched food!”  In response the Lord sent a punishment for the people.  Snakes were attacking the people and many of them died from being bitten.

When they got aware of their extreme fear, they approached Moses to entreat the Lord to remove the dangers of the serpents biting them.  Ultimately, the Lord urges Moses to make a seraph and mount it on a pole, “and whoever looks at it after being bitten will live.” 

Fortunately, the people recognized their unfaithfulness to the whole process of being saved from the enslavement in Egypt, and the serpent’s bite no longer took them out.

What’s wrong with whining?  The Israelites whined at their own peril, but the Lord still heard them and got Moses to alleviate their suffering.  Whining prevents the people from a more fruitful response to the difficulties they experienced on their long and tedious journey.

The people were being saved, but they wouldn’t be grateful for it because of present and endangering circumstances in the desert.  They seem to have forgotten the joy of being led out of  Egypt’s slavery and got mired in their most current fears and complaints.  But the Lord continued to be on their side and called them through Moses to the confession of their sin and to receive the solution the Lord gave provided for them.

The Israelites show us that gratitude is a hard virtue when we are being besieged.  We generally are OK when things go our way, but thanksgiving may fail us in times of severe need.  To focus on God’s actions on our behalf calls out the true and humble response of “thank you, Lord, for your faithfulness to us!”

It strikes me that the best and maybe only thing that we have to give back to God is our humble faithfulness to being grateful for the ways that God loves us even when that faithfulness stretches  our limits. 

Am I grateful for my life?  Am I grateful that I can walk, talk, think, see, feel, and be open to the wonders of the universe that surround me?  What is my response to the fears and difficulties of life when they come my way?  Like us, the Israelites forgot to be thankful for the way that God was rescuing them.  Let’s pray together that we remember in humble gratitude the ups and downs of human living.

Lord, our God, help us to open ourselves to the glory and joy of your constant presence to us.  Keep us faithful in experiencing your magnificent gifts of grace that you shower on us.  Be with us even as we whine about how difficult life is and call us to deep gratitude for your constancy and faithfulness to us.  We pray gratefully. . .