🐛 TREE 255: Faith in abundance
Throwback Friday – TREE 33
One.
Please welcome our new sponsor, Bird on a Sheep Clothing Co. – fine woollen goods woven by a bird, apparently.
Two.
In his letter of leadership advice, St Paul wrote that some people ‘think religion is a way to make a fast buck.’ He follows that with, ‘But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content’ (1 Timothy 6:5–7, MSG, NASB).
Paul is writing specifically about a Christian lifestyle here but, like all the best texts, he’s pointing out something universal. When you stop grasping for the material thing you want in favour of contentment, very often a way opens for you to get what you want. The trick is to truly let go, not just pretend to. The best way I know to do that is to develop a habit of gratitude for the life you have right now. Then, even if you don’t get what the thing you originally wanted, you will be happy. Along the way, you may start wanting different things for better reasons.
Here’s why I chose today’s throwback and called it ‘Faith in abundance’. I don’t read this as Paul saying we should be thankful for the few scraps we get in a zero-sum game. I see it as seeing the world as a generative place where new possibilities and opportunities are always coming into existence. Gratitude creates a mindset that makes opportunity visible.
(Gratitude can also put us on a path to living wisely and responsibly – rather than rapaciously – in this world of abundance. But that’s another post entirely.)
Three.
Because it’s Friday, here’s some pure silly fun with a legendary rhythm section. I have faith that if you stick with it, you will be bouncing (possibly against your will).
Thanks for being part of faith week. If you didn’t catch the link to ‘Consider a tree’ on Monday, please take a couple minutes to read it now.
Something for the weekend
Right now there’s a really big mushroom growing beside the road on my running route, so here are two fascinating fungus articles. Mushrooms might save the world.
‘The Secret Lives of Fungi’ by Hua Hsu
‘The unexpected magic of mushrooms’ by Richard Gray
Happy weekend!
Jeff