scarcity vs plenty (John 12:1-11)

What Mary did was scandalously extravagant, not to mention conspicuous. A fortune of fragrance emptied over a holy man’s feet…

Judas objected more from greed than charity, according to the narrator. Jesus told him there would never be a shortage of people needing help. And he affirmed Mary’s act as perfectly appropriate.

Mary’s gesture flowed from fearlessness. She didn’t budget her devotion against a bottom line of zero.

God’s economy is not based on scarcity. Mary’s gift wasn’t going to cheat the needy. Jesus was confident that his followers wouldn’t run out of resources necessary to their calling. God’s economy is predicated on plenty.


Copyright Scott Burnett 2006

Hope

“Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise Him, who is the health of my countenance and my God.”
Psalm 42:11 (21st Century King James Version)

Hope is integral to Emotional Endurance [see table]. What feeds my heart’s fire if not hope? And what distinguishes hoping from wishing? For me, hope is the belief that God is planting goodness in the future so that it’s already taking root and blooming as we step into each unfolding day.

Here's an ancient prophetic poem that was composed by a person who understood the valley of deep trouble. His words have the heartbeat of authenticity.

“There I will give her back her vineyards,
and will make the Valley of Trouble a door of hope.
There she will sing as in the days of her youth,
as in the day she came up out of Egypt.”
Hosea 2:15 (New International Version)

First, God promises to restore vineyards, which represent abundance and gladness. Then follows an image that I find profoundly moving: God will transform the valley of trouble into a door of hope. The lowest, most disturbing circumstance becomes the threshold to a good future.

The second sentence begins with the response of the people, which is carefree singing: a picture of rejuvenation and festivity. The closing line references release from slavery, and the long-awaited freedom to engage life.

That’s what this Fourfold Fitness thing is about, really [see intro]. I don’t need to be a slave to disconnection and disintegration; by God’s grace, I’m free to cultivate practices that increase my capacity for living.


Copyright Scott Burnett 2006

Creativity

Cognitive strength is valuable to me; I intend for it to be among my primary character traits. One of the ways I choose to cultivate greater capacity in this intention zone is by practicing creativity.

When I’m at my best, creativity is radiating into every territory of my life. It isn’t contained or compartmentalized. So it wouldn’t be out of place in any of my sixteen zones.

But for the sake of focus, I center Creativity at the intersection of Cognitive & Strength [see table]. In my experience, my mind nearly always comes into play when I’m being creative. Thoughts are sorted and shuffled, and arranged in new constellations – new categories are framed and tested – new pathways, sequences, connections are mentally sketched out…

It’s a very satisfying form of exertion: it feels like pushing a stalled car that I didn’t think would budge, or hiking a little farther than my imagined capacity, or splitting a cord of firewood. Creativity makes me feel strong.


Copyright Scott Burnett 2006

soul-sized life

What are the dimensions of your soul? How far can she throw her light? How many close relationships do you have the capacity to honor?

How much art will you render? How many stories will be yours to tell? How many friends will you help to discover their own souls?

As I ask questions like these of myself, the tendency is to swing between overestimating and underestimating the size of my soul. Maybe the oscillation between big and small is what keeps me bending back toward a sane assessment.

For more on this topic, see the post inhabiting littleness, and the comments that followed.