I was working at a hospital when I had the encounter with envy. Envy is an evil I don’t characteristically welcome in my heart or mind but it stealthily crept into my heart on that day.

There was a couple who worked in the hospital as Respiratory Therapists.

They stopped by to chat with me and I engaged in conversation.

They were not pleasant looking people but they had something which many couples lack. They had love.The beauty of their love masked their appearance.

As the conversation blossomed they told me about their daughters.

The love that they had between them had apparently overflowed onto their children.

They went on and on about their two daughters. They had been chaperones at the prom recently and the mother had danced with the daughter.

At that point in time my relationship with my daughter was barely civil. She would have been mortified if I had been anywhere near her prom. To dance with her at such an event would have never happened.

I became a bit jealous. I would have loved to have that kind of relationship with my daughter. As I considered the possibility further I tore apart the conversation into fragments, looking for secrets which were not spoken.

If a mother is dancing with her daughter at a prom, what does that suggest?

That there are no young men vying for a dance with the daughter.

My daughter did not invite me to her prom because that is essentially an event for her and her friends. She is beautiful and has no difficulty achieving a dance with a young man.

Envy was still knocking at the door. These people had something which I longed for. An acceptance of their situation in life and a love for their side of the fence.

I kept wanting to jump the fence to see exactly why their side appeared to be greener, not realizing that my side was awash with brilliant and fragrant wild flowers.

That is the danger of envy. It steals your joy. For when you are looking over the fence at the “greener” pastures of another, you are failing to breathe in the fragrance of your own blessings.

It is a shame and an offense to God, who has bestowed these blessings upon you, to think that someone else’s grass is greener than the fragrant wildflowers he has seeded into your pasture.