Abundance

How can we complain against God for the poverty and suffering that exist in the world? Can we honestly do so? God saw that everything was good. What we do with things is another matter. ~Mother Teresa



God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. ~Genesis 1:31

I borrowed the quote from a friend's facebook page.  It resonated with me because I had just finished reading yet another article on the famine of Somalia and the fleeing refugees and the 29,000 children that have died within the past 90 days.  At that rate, that is approximately 322 children or one elementary school full of children dying from famine every day.  Just in one country.  That's not a world figure for all the poverty stricken countries. 

And on the same day that I read all that, I made a pot of soup big enough to feed two families or three dinners for a family of four all from organic stock and local produce I had made and procured just the day before.  All fresh.  All from right here in York county.  Had enough to give some away, eat it for lunch, and freeze for another dinner another day.

The next day we jumped in our car and drove over to our local farmer friend where she proceeded to fill up our largest cooler with organic beef and venison and pork because she had too much and it was starting to get freezer burn.  We have a deal to start buying all our beef from her, but for now she just wanted to share it so it wouldn't go to waste.  After feeding the horses and petting the young, healthy, bottle fed baby cattle, we got back in the car and drove down the road to another farm where we proceeded to buy approximately 35 to 40 pounds of produce for around $20. 

Once we got home, Michael started yard work and I joined him.  I accidentally ended up in a yellow jacket's nest, so I ran inside to my bathroom with clean running water and soaked in a cold bath til I was sure I wasn't going into anaphylactic shock.  After tending my wounds, I realized I had broken my glasses, so I started researching eye doctors and general doctors, where I quickly found out that my insurance will cover a number of people.  I just need to pick one.  From the list.  And in a matter of two or three days, I will have stylish new frames.  And hopefully an epipen for the first aid kit.  Which I was able to load full by taking a quick trip to Walgreens and picking out which style bandaids I thought looked cute and useful all at the same time.

Later in the evening, the family decided after such a hectic day, we could picnic in our comfy air conditioned living room with the flat screen television and pick out a movie from the hundreds of choices we have saved up on our Netflix account.  Since none of those suited us, we luckily found Harry Potter on regular tv and settled in for family night.

I am overwhelmed by the abundance all around us.  Everywhere in every crevice of our daily lives.  So imbedded and ordinary in our world we don't even notice it as abundance.  When all the plumbing backed up in our house this week, a plumber came to fix it within a matter of hours.  All the yuck was cleaned up and life back to normal by the end of one working day.  Even in what we consider an inconvenience (having to drive over to CVS to borrow their bathroom) is a representation in abundance.

Here's what strikes me in the verse from the bible - God saw everything that He had made, and indeed, it was very good.

I don't know how to solve the famine issue.  Truth be told, most of the time I'd rather not think about it because I don't know how to help and it is just depressing.  But that irksome thought keeps coming back.  He made everything.  And I know what He made is good.  We just may not be taking care of it properly.  And I know that He is a God of abundance - not of either or.  And I am reminded of One Christ, One Body.  Which means that by turning my head away from the famine, I am turning my head away from the amputation and disease of my own arm.  That is, if I truly consider myself a part of the body of Christ.  So even though I don't have lots of money to throw at the problem, I do have gifts God has given me.  To use.  For Him.  And I am praying He will reveal to me how I can share our abundance of His love for us with the world.

More Mother Teresa quotes:

Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty.

Each one of them is Jesus in disguise.

I want you to be concerned about your next door neighbor.  Do you know your next door neighbor?