We are driven by the worry that there is not going to be enough to go around.
This concept is exploited by politicians and governmental leaders to promote their agendas. It is one of the reasons we wage war. It is the basis of avarice. It causes us to hate instead of love. But is there any fundamental truth to this vision of scarcity? Are there limits to God's abundance? The New Testament lessons of five loaves and two fish multiplied by Jesus to feed five thousand is not just a sweet story. Whether considered as historical fact or metaphor, the lesson indicates that there is nothing lacking except our limited perspective fueled by fear.
In his best selling book, The Power of Intention, Dr. Wayne Dyer wrote; " When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change. When you see the world as abundant and friendly, your intentions are genuine possibilities. They will, in fact, become a certainty." Certainly, wIth this alternate kind of worldview those possibilities become endless. Rather than succumbing to the frightening spectre of running out of things and being left without resources, we become empowered by the truth that 'God is able to give you more than you need, so that you will always have all you need for yourselves and more than enough for every good cause' (2 Corinthians 9:8).
Maybe it was a good cause that kept my Dad, Ken Jones, so chipper and cheerful most all of the time. If so, the cause he devoted himself to was family and friends. His generosity of spirit could be felt whenever he walked into a room. Ken was a believer in abundance and a doubter of scarcity. Born in 1909, he lived through prosperity, the Great Depression, World War II and a return to prosperity. He lost plenty and gained plenty. There was rarely a time when he wasn't whistling. One of his favorite melodies was "The Best Things in Life are Free" which would spring from his lips as if it just had to be shared. He sang it, hummed it, and tweeted it sometimes to my adolescent disdain. One day, I asked him why he kept repeating the song. He replied that the words were a gold standard for him...that nothing was lacking in life. I protested citing world poverty and wealth disparity. He said that shortages were man-made and caused by greed. With that he performed a demonstration.
Eisner Grocery Store in our hometown of Danville, Illinois
He took me to the Eisner Grocery Store in our hometown of Danville, Illinois and began filling up his shopping cart and one I was pushing with paper towels, all the while whistling his happy tune. Ken was well known and popular, so it wasn't long before someone stopped him to ask what was going on. He got a serious look on his face and said that there was a paper towel shortage and soon there would be none to be had for 'who knows how long'. By the time we left the store (after several questions by shoppers and much meandering), the aisle was devoid of paper towels altogether. There was even a blurb in our local newspaper telling that paper towels were scarce. This was a great lesson for me and another source of glee for him to story about. His bottom line was that love was available in an unlimited supply and nothing else could be lacking as long as you believe this to be true.
Nobody can reasonably doubt that there are shortages of valuable resources. Fresh water is unavailable in many parts of the world. People are starving. Homelessness is at an all time high as refugees flee their impoverished or dangerous countries. But all of this is true while, at the same time, there is excess and plenty in other places.
When we recognize that scarcity is man-made and fixable it will finally be possible to grasp that the best things in life are free. Until then, we will remain too frightened to share our abundance.