REsources for Living
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Abundance seemed like a totally logical theme for this July-August issue of Quest. After all, at least for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere it’s a time when farmers’ markets are full of fresh fruits and vegetables, a time of sunshine and swimming, a time for vacation and camping and the pleasure of being with family and friends. Hopefully, that’s what you’re in the midst of right now.
But the way our Quest schedule works means that I’m writing this in March, and what’s most on my mind is the terrible tragedy in Japan caused by the giant earthquake and tsunami wave. It’s hard to think about abundance when you know that thousands of people have died and hundreds of thousands of people have lost everything they own, and are trying to get by with not enough food, water or heat. In the meantime, people from New Zealand are trying to recover from their own earthquake and it looks like civil war in Libya. How do you celebrate abundance in the midst of so much suffering?
Of course, that’s the way the world is. There are always people suffering terrible hardships. Natural disasters happen, but also people get sick and relationships fall apart and people get hurt in accidents and, well, there’s pretty much no end to the list of things that can go terribly wrong.
But it’s also true that the world is always full of absolutely amazing things as well. Flowers fill the air with their scent and sea otters play in kelp beds and people write songs and create families and bake pies. There’s no end to the list of wonderful things that happen every day, too.
So what are we supposed to do with knowing about both all the horrible and all the fabulous things in the world? How do we hold all those things together in our hearts and minds without somehow exploding? The temptation is to try not to care too much, to just keep our distance from the joys and sorrows of the world so we don’t get overwhelmed. And certainly, there can be a time for that approach. It’s better than getting sucked down into a whirlpool of sorrow. But I think there’s a better way.
When we start with an awareness of the abundance of the world and the abundance of our lives, we can more easily remember to be grateful for all we have. At this very minute I can see jasmine starting to bloom in my back yard and birds flitting through the tree that is still bare of leaves (although it will be fully green by the time you read this). There is a cat purring on my lap, and there are good folks like you out there who share a commitment to our religion of open minds and open hearts. The abundance around me is obvious and inspiring.
When I have so much, why wouldn’t I want to share? I can’t make things all better for the people of Japan, or for the folks in New Zealand or Libya. I can’t even fix things for my friend who recently lost her job. But there are things that I can do to help. When we are able to truly see both the suffering and the abundance, then creative solutions start to emerge.
A good friend of mine, who is originally from New Zealand, recently went back there both to see her family and to help with recovery efforts after their recent major earthquake. Before she left the U.S. she gave her friends here the opportunity to contribute to relief efforts that would help the tens of thousands of New Zealanders left without water, power or other basic services. When she got there she discovered that one of the major problems was a lack of functional bathrooms (what they call “loos”), since sewer systems were destroyed and there were not nearly enough porta-potties to go around.
In an email to those of us back home my friend wrote:
My nephew got involved in a church group that took it upon themselves to design and create 7,000 loos out of five gallon paint buckets. There was a volunteer assembly line involving many steps and much people-power to create the final products, which were then distributed to incredibly appreciative recipients. The group members were wonderful people who simply had concern for the plight of others and realized that the New Zealand government couldn’t come up with the goods for another two or three weeks, so they got to it with Kiwi ingenuity and came up with a solution.
It wasn’t the way she expected to help, nor the way that her friends in the U.S. expected to contribute. But life is like that. You just never know. Sometimes abundance looks like having enough money to send some to help people in need. Sometimes abundance looks like having the creativity to think of using five gallon buckets in new ways. Sometimes abundance looks like a group of people who see a problem and care enough to try to find a solution. Sometimes abundance even looks like finally having a better way to attend to the basics of life.
There’s no way to prevent terrible things from happening. But when we focus on living in the abundance of the world, then creativity and compassion can flow. However unsteady the ground may be under our feet, we can celebrate the joys and ease the hardships of our neighbors across the difficult, delightful planet we share.
- REsources for Living - December 1, 2020
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