scarcity

Lent Day 4: I give up Scarcity

February 20, 2021 — Leave a comment

Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter — when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

Isaiah 58:6-7

I give up scarcity. I give up hoarding for fear of running out. I give up withholding when I can give. I give up thinking that if another gets, it takes from me. I give up these ideas rooted in white supremacy, that there are only so many seats at the table. I give up seeing flesh and blood, my neighbor, the person in front of me, as separate from me. I lean into faith by giving just a little. I lean into faith by giving a little more than I feel comfortable doing, aware that even if I give too much, it will come back. God always provides. I lean into giving knowing that there is enough to share. I lean into Jesus’ miracle of the 5 loaves and 2 fish. I lean into Jesus’ witness of the women who gave all her 2 coins. I lean into giving it my all. I lean into knowing the reward comes back in the moment and in the future. Generosity is seeing flesh and blood as my lucky responsibility and that I do have the means to make another feel seen, loved and important. Abundance is knowing without a doubt that generosity is integral not only for others who are hurting and lacking, but also for my well-being.

CBG: #12

April 1, 2020 — 1 Comment

Can the world say, GOTCHA, this was a joke HAPPY APRIL FOOL’S…let’s go back to…? Back to what…? Back to all the things we took for granted like going to the store without anxiety of invisible virus attackers in the air? Back to daydreaming in a coffee shop and building relationship currency with the barista? Back to hugs and physical closeness and to a time when you didn’t know physical touch was on your top 5 love languages? Joe Biden always talks about going back to when….? To when…? When only some of us were aware of the rampant racism bubbling under the surface ready to launch at anyone who isn’t alike on the outside? When most of us let the leaders do the “organizing” and we sat back? When the lucky few of us thought this world isn’t too bad?

There’s no going back. We are changed. We may not have the words or know what the change means for our future decisions, however, things have and will continue to shift.

  • What has shifted because circumstances have shifted? This is the stripping of all those YOLO decisions.
  • What has rooted deeper because what is unshakeable glows brighter? This is the building of all those YOLO intentions.

Prayer/Meditation: For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith — that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3: 14-21

Creative: It’s national poetry month! Write a poem.

Brave: Where have you been living in scarcity? How can you shift that?

Generous: What was a service that you loved? How can you honor the person who gave that to you?