and raises up all who are bowed down.
The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food in due season.
You open your hand,
satisfying the desire of every living thing. (from Ps. 145)
Today's meditation from Richard Rohr begins, "It is good to remember that a part of you has always loved God. There is a part of you that has always said yes. There is a part of you that is Love itself, and that is what we must fall into. It is already there. Once you move your identity to that level of deep inner contentment, you will realize you are drawing upon a Life that is much larger than your own and from a deeper abundance. Once you learn this, why would you ever again settle for scarcity in your life?"
Strange that Rohr would describe the lifestyle of out consumerist culture that acquires things at an astounding rate as "scarcity." But I think him correct when he says that our culture trains us well in a kind of "learned helplessness." Most of us have known people who were overly dependent on someone. They needed their wife or husband or parent so deeply that they could do nothing on their own, and they lived out of a subservience that was crippling.
Our culture works hard to put us in exactly such a position with regards to needing more. We are rendered helpless by accepting the cultural lesson that "I'm not enough! This is not enough! I do not have enough!" to quote Rohr once more.
Fear is a powerful, if evolutionarily primitive, emotion. There are perhaps still times when a fight or flight response may aid us, but such instincts do not lend themselves well to the sort of life Jesus says we are meant for; a life freed from fear, a life motivated instead by love.
Jesus says, "You are a beloved child of God. You do not need to be more impressive or have more accomplishments. Open yourself to the powerfully transforming presence of God's love in your life. Discover an abundance that truly satisfies and empowers you for a bold, new life."
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