Below all the chatter, noise, and bluster of our time; I hear a persistent question — it seems like people are essentially asking, will there be enough?
At a fundamental level, people seem to know that our personal and collective consumption is disproportionate to our need.
This seems to leave us in a posture of scarcity, and the fear that results from it.
The irony is that the more I consume, the more I am subconsciously aware that if everyone were consuming at that same rate, there wouldn’t be enough and, thereby, a sense that I have to get, keep, and protect everything I can.
One consequence of this is a view of the world and, thereby, others that we are not in this together and are instead competing with one another. The world, then, increasingly becomes a place of threat...and hostility (sound familiar?).
Which perpetuates the question — will there be enough (for me)?
The answer is, yes. But, that answer comes with some strings attached. There will be enough only if we recognize what Wm Paul Young said (here) about the significance of each day as it is.
It is important, too, to recognize that we often think or feel about this subject in highly monetized terms (a function of our economic / market based culture). But, of course, our sense of enough is way bigger than our financial concerns. After all, our financial concerns are simply our collective way of overcoming what we fear in our persistent question.
Because below our surface version of the question is the prevailing concern about whether we are enough. It is fascinating to observe that we actually believe that if we have enough, we won't really have the question of whether we are enough. It is almost as if we say, in effect, if I have enough I don't have to care about the rest. But, the rest is where is real answer is — we are not enough on our own. With ourselves, with others, with the earth, with God.
It is, after all, with God that the answers we seek come. God has no scarcity. God created everything. God created us. God created me. Our sense of scarcity is a result of our lack of recognition of what true abundance is and where it comes from.
We have more than enough.
But, we can destroy a lot of it...
...if we don't recognize that and live accordingly with everyone and everything else in less fearful, consumptive, and hoarding ways.
