Chapter 2 ~ Abundance
Questions
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What are some of the messages of scarcity that you receive on a daily basis?
- How does your family practice gratitude and generosity?
- How does your faith community embody the "liturgy of abundance"? Or if your church lives in a pattern of scarcity, what language or practices might begin to change that pattern?
- What is your favorite biblical story of abundance? What does it teach you about living generously?
The overview of More than Words is found here. The photo above shows Snoopy and his little pal rather than Clawdia, my cat who refused to pose for me. Maybe she'll do it next time.
2 comments:
Abundance: the root of Gratitude and generosity. Key word is "Root." It is where gratitude and generosity begin to become important to our daily lives. Recognizing how blessed I really am if we allow it to permeate my attitude. When this takes "root," I am able to minimize my obsession with what I am missing out on and allows me concentrate on generously passing on that sense of "enough," not just in a monetary sense but enough in a relationship sense. It allows me to generously consider my place in the universe and in the wholeness of God's world. It allows me to be who I am meant to be and to live fully in God's Presence. It allows me to do Micah 6:8 -- Do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly in God's Presence.
As an elderly reader with no children at home (in decades), I have to "translate" Erin Wathen's ideas if I want to figure out how to use them in my life. She handed her child two pieces of Halloween candy and said, "Repeat after me: this is enough. This is all we need" (p. 24). I see people in real need during this pandemic, and I also see my neighbors in the community raising money for food for those around them who don't have enough to feed their families. I see people being kind and helping each other whenever they can. They are "practicing abundance in community" that the author delves into on pages 29-33.
Wathen says before they go shopping, "we sift through our junk and acknowledge how much we really have" (p. 26). I hate shopping, so I have never rushed out to buy things if I could avoid it. Rather than "teaching" abundance to children, we elders need to remind ourselves we have "enough" of most things. I'm not saying it's a "God will provide" thing, but I really DO have what I need.
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