At the very bottom, the rock-bottom basis of everything, at the very innermost core, I think life asks each person certain questions over and over again. And this is one of the most important ones. Do you have everything you need?
There is no factual basis for the answer to this question. It is altogether a matter of faith. It is not a matter of your circumstances. You could be among the richest people in the world and still believe that scarcity stalks you. You could be among the most abused and impoverished people on the planet and still believe that what is of the utmost importance is available to you in abundance.
If you believe in a world of abundance, then you can afford to be generous, in every way imaginable. Your generosity and your sense of security will drive the decisions you make: who you love, who you support, who you vote for, what you do with your money.If you believe in a world of scarcity, then you are likely to view each human being you encounter as competition. Your fears and uncertainty will drive your decisions.
Most of the people who are in positions of power in this world believe in scarcity: economists have based all their theories on it, politicians, CEOs, administrators . . . Pretty much everybody accepts without question that we live in a world of scarcity. But we're always drawn to people who really, really believe in abundance. They are the most generous, comforting, reassuring, empowering people we meet in our day-to-day lives. The deeply ingrained core belief in abundance is immediately recognizable, even if we are unable to articulate what it is we have encountered. We know intuitively that it is good, and transformative, and trustworthy.
I think about this question a lot, so I'll revisit it here from time to time. For now, it's enough to ask the question out loud and to think about it. There are few questions in life that are more important.
Mary, welcome to the blogosphere!
ReplyDeleteMary - a bountiful question for the day. I woke up with this in my mind only from the perspective of what we do to care for ourselves and what we are capable of in a way of revolution in peace. But this is the innercore of these questions. What do we ultimately need?
ReplyDeleteYou have a lovely voice, not only in your song, but in your messages. I'm a subscriber!
Yes! Not just scarcity of physical resources, but also scarcity of love and scarcity of power. Although I think I am a believer in scarcity of time. :-)
ReplyDeleteMmmm... Scarcity of time. That's a really good one, Judy. I know I agree with you there. But I'm not sure about what's true in that regard. No question that time is relative, and no question that it's speeding up as I get older.
ReplyDeleteBut I also believe that it's possible to pack a lifetime into a truly present, centered moment. Sooo..... maybe there is a kind of abundance there, if we know how to connect with it.