Wednesday, November 24, 2010

On Giving Thanks and Abundance


            

          When we look around us at this beautiful world we live in, when we hear inspiring words or song, when we see happiness on a loved one’s face, we can’t help but marvel at God’s magnificence – it is a humbling feeling to see such richness, even as we are filled with joy. But when it comes to our time, talent, or treasure, we often withhold giving, out of fear we personally haven’t enough to part with any of it. During this season of giving, those concerns may arise more frequently as our desire to give comes up against our fears of scarcity.
            Happily, we are hearing more these days about abundance, and how giving can actually increase our wealth…one can find several websites that promise increased income if you use their system, their words, their affirmations. I think, sometimes, that they are missing an integral part of what true abundance is…no formula can replace gratitude for the splendor of our daily lives and our recognition of the blessings we have. There are so many things we can be grateful for, sometimes very simple ones like being warm when it is cold outside, and having enough to eat, which most of us do. Even our “problems” can be seen as blessings, perhaps pointing the way to a lesson, a change, or an opportunity for acceptance.
            Yes, we are a part of that same magnificence! As divine inheritors, divine expressions of God, at the very center of our being we are the love, the solutions, the joy, and the closeness to God that we seek.  We are abundance, too, it is as close to us as our breath…and with that very abundance as our nature, we share the joyful responsibility to make our love, our light shine.            
            And we ourselves continue the flow of abundance as we give, for as we give, we receive. Sometimes our gifts are not financial, but time, attention, and friendship. We reach out, we love, we offer ourselves. As we acknowledge the abundance of our lives through our divine inheritance, we open the floodgates to more richness, love, and joy in our own lives as well as to more joy in helping others.
            We share this abundance through our tithes and our love offerings, through our prayers and our prayer requests…we share it through our giving of our time, talent, and our treasure, not just to our spiritual homes and families, but to our community and to the world. We share it when we answer the call to do more, be more, give more.
            Through these gifts, we are indeed the abundance we seek.  

May your Thanks and Giving bring opportunities for love and happiness to you!

No comments:

Post a Comment