During this season of Lent, I have been co-leading a discussion group made up of younger adults from our church. After church, we meet for a shared meal, prayer, singing, and engage in questions and conversations around the sermon topic that morning. This morning's sermon was on "Jesus - the Bread of Life". In our discussions, we spent some time talking about abundance and what that looks like for us. Jesus was certainly about abundant living. From the marriage of Cana with unlimited amounts of wine to the miracle stories that helped people live into their abundance to the feeding of the 5000, Jesus lived abundantly. I have been carrying that conversation with me all day long today. Abundance. The abundant life. In a world of fear, distrust, and scarcity, what does living the abundant life look like for me? I believe abundance does not equate to greed, unhealthy excess, or selfishness. Most of the time, abundance is all around us; often hidden in the "normal" everyday routines of our life. In our coming and going. We often miss the abundance waiting to be discovered or we mistakenly view our life from a lens of scarcity, not realizing the abundance that we experience everyday. When we make the shift from living our life from a place of scarcity to a place of abundance , our entire world changes. Instead of holding tightly, we hold loosely. Instead of struggling and striving, we relax. Instead of grabbing on, we let go. Instead of clinched fists, we have open hands. The lens of abundance must be firmly rooted in the absolute certainty that no matter where we are in our life - no matter the struggle, the sorrow, the loss, the joy, the celebration, the pain, the questioning, the transitions, or the beauty - we are always cared for and there will always be enough for us and others. We are always cared for and there is always enough.
In considering the abundance I have in my life as part of my Lenten practice, I want to list some of them as an expression of gratitude and as encouragement for all of us to see our abundance and then to consider how we might share and help others live in abundance as well.
1. For my partner David, who models for me a life rich in service and love for others. He allows me to be who I am and makes me a better person.
2. For our 2 dogs Jim and Bob who have brought such an abundance of joy to our lives.
3. For our home. At just 550-ish sq ft, my home is a haven from the outside world and a touch of heaven on earth. Filled with laughter, music, joy, openness, and comfort, I wouldn't trade it for anything! I have an abundance in home.
4. For my spiritual community.
5. For sexuality.
6. For the riches of friends. I surround myself with an abundance of friends who support, love, challenge, comfort, laugh and cry with me. Who celebrate with me in good times, and who carry me and cry with me in tough times. Who are there at every stage of the journey. And who always call me and cheer me on to live my highest and best life.
7. For the absolute awesome gift of music that is around me in abundance.
8. For wise business partners who allow me to fail in order to succeed.
9. For an abundance of embodied spiritual practices, including singing, chanting, meditation, and yoga.
10. For a strong physical body that allows me to move through my life with ease.
11. For breath - that pranayama that connects us with every living thing.
12. For the beauty of the physical body.
13. For the abundance of occasions when the bank account is very low, reminding me that life does not only consist in my possessions.
14. For a city abundant in mountains, ocean, and forests.
15. For handfuls of abundant cherry blossoms.
16. For the abundance of times I've had the feeling of glee when that first ray of sunlight peaks from behind the clouds after days and weeks of rain.
17. For generous amounts of deep-down-in-my-soul unshakeable certainty that my best days are ahead of me.
The poem "Abundance" by Laura Barrette Shannon sums it up nicely:
You can not own
a shimmering sunset,
or crystal stars of night.
You can not own
a brilliant blowing breeze,
or the spark of sweet sunlight.
You can not keep
a fragrant floral scent,
or an infant's sleepy sigh.
You can not keep
love's first embrace,
or life's ecstatic highs.
You can not possess
that time which went by
before you were even born.
You can not possess
those memories made
long after you are gone.
So experience enjoyment
in each moment,
immerse in sight, sense, and sound.
Appreciate this world
for all that it is,
that's where abundance is found.
