Plenty Good Room
Theological Statement
The Spiritual Plenty Good Room tells us a story about God’s inclusive love. The home is there, the table is spread, the place is prepared.
Choose your seat and sit down, the chorus sings to us. Like many metaphors for the Kingdom of Heaven, there is a dual meaning, and in this case, the message is clear: in the eternal reward, there is room for everybody; and in the heaven we create here on Earth we should strive for the same.
What abundance! Images of narrow paths and closed gates of pearl aside, Jesus proclaimed such a radical, all-inclusive love that we know in our hearts that we, all of us, each of us, is a part of God’s plan for humanity.
We have each been given gifts to share in order to bring about the fullness of God’s Kingdom.
The secret about having gifts to share is that generosity begets generosity. God modeled generosity in the Creation and as we continue to participate in the co-Creation we bring our gifts to bear. The more we acknowledge the abundance into which we have been created, the more we are inspired to share our resources, relationships, and responses with our neighbors. Generosity asks us to see scarcity not as a problem that we have to endure, but rather as a system that we need to dismantle.
In God’s Kingdom, there is no need that cannot be met. The barriers we have placed between met and unmet needs are ours, not God’s. These obstacles can be overcome through a creative use of our gifts: If there is not enough money to address something, perhaps there is an in-kind donation we can make. Perhaps more volunteer hours, or employing our
networks to expand the circle of help will be useful. And maybe the only thing we can give is a smile or a prayer. We have every good thing inside of us to offer a place for others, all we need to do is to recall that truth.
Questions for Reflection:
How have you used your creativity and experience to overcome scarcity?
