Varina Willse is a regular columnist for the Nashville publication, nFocus. This month she writes about operating from a theology of abundance rather than a theology of scarcity:
The other day a friend of mine, who also happens to be a priest, posed a question that struck me to the core: “Are you living from a theology of scarcity or a theology of abundance?” It’s an apt question for this particular month. We all know about the Pilgrims and Plymouth Rock and the “First Thanksgiving” and all that, but do we really know about it? So much of the story merits consideration. For instance, there is the fact of the harvest. In a vast new territory that took months to reach across a tumultuous ocean, people were able to till the land. They found the soil to be rich and the harvests plentiful. Theology of abundance.
Then there is the fact that Native Americans were present at that First Thanksgiving and that they actually outnumbered the folks from the Mayflower nearly two to one. People who looked, dressed, and spoke vastly different were nevertheless not that vastly different. All people, all called to celebrate together. There was enough food, enough land, enough joy to go around. Theology of abundance.
This is the season when we celebrate—or claim to celebrate—this very theology of abundance. For our own Thanksgiving celebrations, we buy copious amounts of food, preparing dish after dish, gathering with friends and family in high spirits. And that’s just the beginning: the stores are already overflowing with the spoils of Christmas: decorations and gift-wrapping, candies and cards. Here is where we move precipitously from a theology of abundance to a culture of abundance…
To read the full article, visit https://www.nfocusnashville.com.
