“…for the world and all that is in it is mine.”
– God (Psalm 50:12b)
August 1, 2024
Dear siblings in Christ,
The flower boxes on our rooftop deck are a ridiculous riot of color, trembling in the breeze and giving great delight. Vegetable gardens around town are beginning to yield bounty and a surplus of zucchini. It is high summer and the earth’s fecundity is on full, glorious display.
And like the psalmist reminds us, the earth’s profusion is actually God’s. God owns everything there is, and God gives it to us with stunning generosity.
This Sunday we move into the second of three segments of Ordinary Time, or the Season After Pentecost, and our liturgy will change a bit. In this season of growing and greening, it is appropriate that we focus on the plenty w, give e experience, give God thanks for it, and share what we have been given so that everyone has enough.
In his book Holy Currencies, Eric Law tells a wonderful story of dinner in his childhood home. The family had enjoyed the occasional treat of meat in their meal, and now everyone was looking at the final piece on the platter in the middle of the table, which no one made a move to take. He writes:
Then someone would say, “Why don’t you take it, Grandma? You’re the oldest.” But my grandma would say, “No, I’ve been eating this stuff all my life. Give it to the little one. He’s the youngest and needs nourishment to grow up to be big and strong.” Now all eyes were on me, who was the youngest. But I, who also learned this ritual, would say, “No, not me. I am completely full because I have the smallest stomach. Give it to my older brother. He has an examination at school tomorrow. He needs it so he can do well.” My oldest brother would say, “No, not me. Give it to my sister. She has a piano lesson tomorrow…” The ritual would go on around the table; each person would find an excuse not to take the leftover piece of food. While we offered it to each other, we also affirmed each other’s worthiness in the family. As a result, the piece of meat would sit in the middle of the table, destined to be left over, to be transformed into a new delicious dish the next day…This leftover piece of food became a sign of the abundance we shared – we can do more with less.”
Law says that the spirituality he learned in those times was one that begins with the assumption that there is enough and therefore is it okay to have less than someone else, that this ritual of sharing affirmed everyone’s worth, and that it did so much more for them than fighting over that last bit of meat, as a fear-of-scarcity group would probably do.
The earth’s bounty, especially this time of year, is a powerful symbol of the generous portions God lavishes on us. Seeing that - living that - requires quieting the voices around us that say the opposite, voices that caution us to store up and hoard, systems that thrive off of our fear of shortage or lack. The invitation in this season is to the spiritual practice of noticing the plenty, the enough, the bounty, giving thanks to God for these gifts and affirming one another’s worth with our open-handed generosity.
With love and in faith,
Jenny+
Comments