Beyond Abundance

“And He said to them, ‘Take heed and beware  of covetousness, for one’s life  does not consist in the abundance  of the things he possesses.’ ” Luke 12:15  (NKJV)

Sometime ago I saw online the title of  an article that asked the question, “How much do you need to retire comfortably?”   I was curious, but I didn’t click on the link  to find the answer that would fit my situation. If  I did,  I would  very  likely be disccouraged.   Planning for retirement is important,  and it consumes a lot of people, including those  who give  the advice  about how to plan. What drives the planning? True, we  want to be comfortable  and secure in our later years, but our plans  shouldn’t converge  on  a mere desire for things— more of everything we didn’t have time to acquire and enjoy  in our working  years.  As Henry David Thoreau wrote in Walden, “Things are in the saddle and ride mankind.”

If the recent spate of natural disasters, especially the fires that  engulfed thousands of homes out West,  should teach  us anything, it is that things are temporary. And that is exactly what many of the people who lost their homes and all their belongings in the fires  have  said.  Over and over they  were heard telling  reporters,  “Things can be replaced. We have our life. We are  thankful.” And those brave survivors began the arduous task of picking up the charred, brittle  pieces—things that had once meant so much.  They continued on, after having looked into the face of things.

In their  reactions to the disaster,  those people were living the reality  of  our Lord’s words in the focus text for today. Jesus wants us  to know  that our lives consist in far more than our possessions. Surely we want nice things, and if we work for them, we  should have them. But let’s not clutch them to  our bosoms. Let’s look beneath and beyond things and identify what really matters. And when we do, we’ll see past  temporary things and be impressed by  the  value  and satisfaction of a life lived  loving  God with our whole heart and our neighbor as ourselves. That’s living  beyond possessions.”

Always,

Judith

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Treasure your  relationships,
not your possessions.”
Anthony J. D’Angelo, Writer an Speaker