September 23, 2013
By Phil Maynard
There seems recently to be an epidemic of people feeling that there is not enough. Not enough money. Not enough time. Not enough talent. Not enough power. Not enough creativity. Not enough me.
Jesus taught us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Yet, often we focus on what we do not have and hide from our neighbor more than our share of the manna out of fear that there will not be enough for us tomorrow. And we are surprised when it goes bad. And we still don’t seem to have enough.
Obviously this sense of not having enough didn’t start with our current economic collapse. Ever since Cain killed Abel out of competitive jealousy (not enough affirmation), we have been trying to deal with our sense of scarcity.
But what if we begin in faith believing that God, in God’s bounteous love, does supply amply? What if we assume Jesus was on to something when he asked us, in our anxiety over having enough, to consider the lilies of the field? What if Paul’s witness is right: God will supply all our needs and can help us learn to live contently no matter what?
The disciples urged Jesus to send the crowds away to eat because it was getting late and they were quite a hike from their homes. He suggested