Today I attended a clergy day away for the Illinois Conference UCC. We heard from Parker Palmer -- a teacher, lecturer, activist and prolific writer who speaks about wholeness and authenticity in our lives. Something that stuck with me (and I know has influenced many over the years -- judging from all the articles and blog posts about it) was the concept of scarcity and abundance. He used the Feeding of the 5000 in a kind of "stone soup" way -- showing how the disciples saw how little was available (scarcity) and how Jesus concentrated on what there was an abundance of (faith, miracles -- or - dare I say it? generosity of people who were gathered)
He challenged me to look past the scarcity (we don't have enough of . . . ) that I hear from everywhere and instead look with faith at the abundance (What Jesus sees and calls us to live) of gifts God gives.
What a great idea.
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