Wanting What We Have

Do you not say, "Four months more, then comes the harvest'? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. - Jesus - John 4:35 Today is the day after Thanksgiving and hopefully none of you are experiencing a "food coma" from yesterday's feast-ivities. If so, put this aside to read later when clarity returns. This day has been dubbed "Black Friday" by the nation's retail industry. It marks the commencement of the holiday shopping season, when stores offer slashed pricing deals hoping to entice consumers to shop until they drop, thus moving their bottom line from red (loss) to black (profit). For the diehard deal shopper it's a great day but we know it can get out of hand and become a full contact sport with tragic outcomes. In years past shoppers have been hurt even killed by the mad rush. And this morning we read of a woman in a Los Angeles Wal-Mart  who pepper sprayed a group of shoppers to prevent them from acquiring the product she so desperately had to have. We can argue that such extreme behaviors are aberrations of human desire and dismissed as unlikely exceptions but I believe there is a common thread among all of us that bears examining. While we may never push our way through a crowd to get our hands on some coveted bargain on a store shelf, we've probably felt that inner urge to "get ours." Who of us has not coveted the good fortune of material wealth, be it a car, a luxurious home, a dream vacation, nor craved the affections of some idealized person, or yearned for fame or status or recognition? We've all been there in our humanity, seeking to find fulfillment in this world that offers such a cornucopia of sense delights that promise to satisfy our deepest longings. It's really a seductive power; it can trap even the awake and spiritually vigilant among us at times. Denese and I recently moved into a new home and found ourselves consumed with the "need" to furnish and decorate our new space. Our purchases were modest by most standards but what was problematic was the inner drive that made us uncomfortably aware of how bottomless was the yearning for one more thing, just one more thing... that had no end. On one of our many shopping excursions, we caught ourselves mid-purchase and said, "Enough!" We have what we need, we can enjoy our home, and the absence of some "thing" is not the missing piece that's driving us to acquire more. The missing piece is in us - our sense of incompleteness, insufficiency, unworthiness, projected out upon the world to fill for us. It's the age old syndrome, of trying to buy happiness, acquire our way to satisfaction, finance fulfillment. As every prodigal son or daughter soon realizes any journey to fulfillment that takes us outside of ourselves is doomed to failure; destined to impoverish our resources and our spirit. So what is the antidote to this materialistism that plagues us? As usual, it's a mere reversal of the problem. Satisfaction, and the deep sense of well-being that we all seek comes not from wanting what we don't have, but from wanting what we have. In other words it's an appreciation for life as it is, beholding the good that is spread before us, and being grateful for the precious life that is ours. When we take this approach, the monster of materialism is tamed, and the Lord of sufficiency rules over our thoughts and deeds. By simply choosing to be grateful we can find ourselves in a land of good and plenty. The power of gratitude is enormous, capable of coloring our world in such pleasing hues that no amount of material paint could attain. So here's a prospering idea for this holiday season. While many people will be creating a list of their wants and wishes, let's make a list of all that we have that we want. This will fill our stocking like no other practice because we will be starting with a Great-Fullness with no room for lack or insufficiency. Rev. Denese has coined this day Sacred Friday. It can be sacred, and more than just the retailers, we can all profit from this realization of good, right here and right now.