Thanksgiving Sunday
How do we define an abundant life? Is it by how much we have? Do we define it in comparison or contrast to what others have? Too often, our definition of an abundant life keeps us turned inward because it is characterized by the amount of money we have in the bank, the number of friends by our side, or gadgets in our pocket.
Consider this: the total U.S. revolving debt (98 percent of which is credit card debt) as of January 2011 was $795.5 billion, according to the Federal Reserve’s G.19 report on consumer credit. While the implications of the G.19 report may be hotly debated, what it does tell us is that U.S. citizens, in general, like to spend. Then again, we don’t need a report to tell us what we already know. That’s the case for most people who live in any first-world country. Take a walk through your house, apartment, or condominium and try to assess whether you have what you need or whether you have far more than necessary. Do you have children? How many toys do they have? How many of those toys go untouched or overlooked because they have so many? Ask a person whose family has moved recently and you will likely find someone who will, if they are being honest, be forced to admit that they own too much stuff. Nothing puts the concepts of needs versus wants or having enough versus having too much into perspective quite like moving from one home to another.
Today’s readings provide us an opportunity to redefine what constitutes an abundant life. Each reading orients our perspective outward and gives us pause to consider the correlation between an abundant life and a life lived in faithful relationship to God.
