I've been thinking a lot about abundance, and money, and how much is
enough lately. I am planning to go back to work in the fall and will
balance decisions about salary, and flexibility, and time with family. Keiko posted a comment on my last post about the need for a leap of faith to believe in sufficiency, that we will have enough and that we are enough. She was inspired by a quote from the book the "Soul of Money" by Lynne Twist. "When we let go of the chase for more, and consciously examine and
experience the resources we already have, we discover our resources are
deeper than we knew or imagined. In the nourishment of our attention,
our assets expand and grow."
This quote reminded me of a story Jesus told that Pastor Terry recounted in his talk last week. The story comes from Matthew 25:14. Three servants were each given bags of silver before their master went on a long trip, each according to his abilities. One was given five bags, and he invested it and made five more. Another was given two bags, and he made two more. The one who was given one bag was afraid, and he buried the bag, and dug it up when his master returned. The master was angry and took away the one bag from the servant, and gave it to the servant with ten bags. "For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away."
What's especially interesting to me is that each bag was worth more than 15 years' wages for a laborer, and the term used was "a talent". Those bags were money enough for retirement.
God's plan for us is not to earn "enough" at a young age and then retire. Yes, save for the future, but also give freely and with an open heart. Because if I truly believe that I do not have enough to live or to give, I will never have enough. I will always need more. And that is just like burying the money and talent that I do have - in fear.
And that is the other side of the story - the abundance part. When we take what we are given - the bags of silver that are our time, and our talent, and our energy - and we invest them in ourselves and our world, God has promised that abundance will follow.
What would you do if you were given 15 years of your salary today? What have you buried, in fear that you will lose it?
Just for clarity's sake, in case anyone is inspired to read the book, the one I was quoting from is called The Soul of Money by Lynne Twist. I'm really enjoying it.
ReplyDeleteJust fixed this! The other woman was a co-contributor.
DeleteThis article has completely changed the way I look at the burying of the talents. http://provoketive.com/2011/11/13/parable-of-the-talents-a-slave-narrative-of-injustice-and-oppression/
ReplyDeleteWow! This is such a different perspective than the way I considered it. What I love about faith stories, and especially those told by Jesus, is that there is room to interpret them in different ways - in fact, as I've read the same story at different times in my life it speaks to me differently. Thanks for sharing.
Deletereally great reminder in this post! brought to mind these snippets I read awhile back.... http://sandradodd.com/abundance/
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this. I've struggled with how to raise my kids in abundance but without too much stuff. The media comments were particularly interesting as we are dealing with that with our boys in a culture inundated with media.
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