Abundance
Out walking this morning on a cool crisp autumn morning, I was noticing ABUNDANCE in nature. There were not just a few acorns, from trees that were pummeled in July when four tornadoes tore through Cleveland’s West Side—but a vast production of acorns. The same, maybe even more colorful, vast outpouring of autumn leaves, linger before they fall—as though to display a rich palette to delight us and encourage our hope. Even the pesky visit of the Lake Erie midges seems more abundant this year—thicker on cars and doors, swarming in my path as I walk, as Nature says, “I will feed all those depending on a pre-winter diet of midges.”
Nature, and the Creator, seem to understand abundance. Despite fires and floods, there is still a response of “enough.” Are we humans the only ones who don’t trust abundance? Are we the only ones who sadly drift like iron-filings-to-a-magnet to the fear of scarcity? Isn’t much of our anxiety and fear about not having enough—enough time, enough money, enough security, enough back-up plans, enough rest, enough friends, enough love, enough peace…and on and on. So, as I walk, batting the midges away and careful not to slip on acorns, I’m wondering do I TRUST abundance? Do I lean back into the Creator’s PROVIDENCE?? Really! Do I TRUST that, like the lilies of the field,
I’ll be provided for? Do I trust that there are enough resources for ALL? Do I believe in an abundance of goodness in humans, or do I sadly fear a loss of honesty, integrity, and neighborly compassion? That would be choosing SCARCITY!
I would imagine most of creation relies on Providence…and the “Circle of Life”. I want to take Jesus at His word—so often trying to teach and reassure us of the abundant care and wisdom and grace in which we “live and move and have our being.”
Let us in these days that seem uncertain, and challenging—let us like the trusty acorns and carefree midges relax into the unshakeable presence of Divine Love—abundantly faithful!