Sunday, June 28, 2015

ABUNDENCE



When a soul empties itself of faith, fear naturally flows in to fill the void. Fear then is expressed in many forms, one of which is the feeling of lack or insufficiency. A feeling of lack obscures our vision until we are unable to distinguish our wants from our needs. The direct result of this is a form of blindness we call greed. When acting upon greed, satisfaction is not possible because fear tells us what we receive is never enough.

Because greed is a form of fear it diminishes our capacity for wholesome living. Eventually it damages the mind and the body as well. Further, one of the dangers of greed is what we will do to obtain the many things that will never satisfy a fearful heart.  There are many examples of extreme greed in the world around us but when we are held in the grip of greed we become unable to see it in our self. Even when we suspect our actions may be influenced by greed, we may excuse them by accepting insatiability as a helpful form of motivation.

Fear of lack will never lead to those of fulfillment and a life spent in pursuit of more will never find enough. Because our greed becomes obsessive eventually it leaves less and less room in our life for hopeful and helpful activity. Under such circumstances we risk becoming bitter and impoverished no matter how much we possess.

How do we deal with the greed around us? Not by direct confrontation for this will only stimulate the selfishness we are trying to turn back. However greed can be transformed to gratification in the presence of genuine fulfillment. If we are willing to be the force for good, to transform fear in to faith we can as living examples change the hearts and minds around us. Feelings of fulfillment are possible only when we focus on what we have as opposed to what we lack. Fulfillment will sponsor an attitude of gratitude which will light up the world where we find our self. When we are fulfilled, satisfied with our self, the glow we cast illuminates the lives of those we touch. We may never know of the lives we influenced or how many found their way by the light we shown but we will have changed the world for the better.

A wholesome attitude is ultimately irresistible by those around us but if we wish to change the world in which we find our self, we must be willing to persist for as long as it takes to transform them. Let our actions ever flow from a feeling of gratitude and speak eloquently of our beliefs. And let us remember the greatest miracle we can perform in this lifetime is through our actions to make a miracle of someone else.