Abundance. It’s a life-changer. I was producing Patti Brunner’s podcast, which you should all check out. By the way, it’s called Truth of the Spirit. She also does a YouTube video for each episode. PatriarchMinistries.com, or you can also get there from PaduaPodcastNetwork.com, where all of our podcasts reside as well.

Anyway, I’m going to quote Patti here… “The person sharing a spiritual gift does not have less. We should be generous with spiritual gifts; they are not depleted by sharing or using. Fr. Patrick Gonyeau of Encounter Ministries said, ‘Use what you have, and He gives you more.” What she is talking about, though in a different context, is an attitude of abundance. That is from Truth of the Spirit, episode 222.

I’ll also quote another PPN podcaster, Tom Rohr. The motto for his Wonderful Life podcast is “All you can take with you is that which you give away.”

Life is not a zero-sum game. I was recently asked to choose whether I would describe myself as a glass-is-half-empty or a glass-is-half-full person. I said glass-is-half-empty. You might not guess that from listening to the podcast. But there are a lot of times when I tend to look only at the empty half of the glass. That leads to a feeling that I am missing something, that I never seem to have enough, and I have nothing to give away. But when I look at the world, the other people who have less, who are less fortunate in some way, then I recognize what I have.

Sometimes it helps to keep a gratitude list handy. The things on mine would be things like…
I have so much to eat I have to be careful not to eat too much. Many people in the world are constantly hungry.
I have water right in my house any time I want it. Some people in the world have to walk miles to fetch water every day, and can only bring back what they can carry, and have to do the same thing the following day.

But other things are not so basic either. I have a car that’s paid off. Many people, perhaps most people who have a car also have a loan on it.

Soon I realize that I am rich, relatively speaking. And this is only the material things. What about my friends, my family, my faith? These are the really important things.

Being a miser is a terrible, sad way to live. There is abundance in the world, and I am swimming in it. And if I continue to love my life the best I can, it will continue to be loveable.

Photo by Ian Turnell: https://www.pexels.com/photo/assorted-fruits-stall-709567/