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
Showing posts with label Generosity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Generosity. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Friday, December 07, 2007
neighborliness
My friend Doug knows what it means to be a good neighbor. He came over at 9:00 a couple nights ago to help me install a new dishwasher. We got a late start because we’d each had very long workdays.
The installation didn’t follow the script. (Do they ever, I wonder?). It was impossible to discern which breaker the electrical was wired to so we turned them all off. Of course, that meant doing much of the job by flashlight.
The not-so-helpful instructions estimated the job should take between one and three hours. Doug left our house at 1:00 in the morning. He was still smiling. Perhaps even more striking was the utter absence of profanity! That’s a good neighbor. In fact, for those four hours at least, I’d say Doug’s neighborliness bordered on the saintly.
Grace arrives in many forms. I’ve found, though, that it usually involves a palpably personal and relational element. Grace usually entails somebody choosing to be available as its conduit.
Copyright Scott Burnett 2006
The installation didn’t follow the script. (Do they ever, I wonder?). It was impossible to discern which breaker the electrical was wired to so we turned them all off. Of course, that meant doing much of the job by flashlight.
The not-so-helpful instructions estimated the job should take between one and three hours. Doug left our house at 1:00 in the morning. He was still smiling. Perhaps even more striking was the utter absence of profanity! That’s a good neighbor. In fact, for those four hours at least, I’d say Doug’s neighborliness bordered on the saintly.
Grace arrives in many forms. I’ve found, though, that it usually involves a palpably personal and relational element. Grace usually entails somebody choosing to be available as its conduit.
Copyright Scott Burnett 2006
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Thanksgiving Blessing
Even as we express our gratitude for God’s good gifts,
We receive the gift of gratitude itself;
Pressed down and overflowing.
Let us seek the way of pure kindness…
In the name of the Father.
Let us shut the door on anxiety…
In the name of Jesus.
Let us remember beauty…
In the name of the Holy Spirit.
Even as we express our gratitude for God’s good gifts,
We receive the gift of gratitude itself;
Pressed down and overflowing…
Pressed down and overflowing.
Amen
We receive the gift of gratitude itself;
Pressed down and overflowing.
Let us seek the way of pure kindness…
In the name of the Father.
Let us shut the door on anxiety…
In the name of Jesus.
Let us remember beauty…
In the name of the Holy Spirit.
Even as we express our gratitude for God’s good gifts,
We receive the gift of gratitude itself;
Pressed down and overflowing…
Pressed down and overflowing.
Amen
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Generosity
I think generosity is the heart of emotional flexibility. Physical flexibility improves the fluidity of my movement, allows me to flow more symbiotically with life’s currents, and helps fend off injuries related to brittleness. Generosity brings analogous qualities to my feelings, reactions, and moods.
A readiness to share what I have, whether material, relational, or spiritual, keeps my soul pliable and supple. It seems to increase my capacity to “roll with the punches”, and ease my tendency to jump to conclusions.
Kindness is among generosity’s most beautiful faces; softness to another soul. Sometimes it’s harder to share than cash! But its power to radiate blessing is remarkable – even small acts of kindness can emit wellbeing in all directions.
Copyright Scott Burnett 2006
A readiness to share what I have, whether material, relational, or spiritual, keeps my soul pliable and supple. It seems to increase my capacity to “roll with the punches”, and ease my tendency to jump to conclusions.
Kindness is among generosity’s most beautiful faces; softness to another soul. Sometimes it’s harder to share than cash! But its power to radiate blessing is remarkable – even small acts of kindness can emit wellbeing in all directions.
Copyright Scott Burnett 2006
Friday, October 20, 2006
Joy (emotional strength)
“This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength." Nehemiah 8:9b
I pulled these words out of their context, which is not a recommended practice. However, I believe the heart of what Nehemiah stated here is a universally transferable truth. The joy of the Lord is your strength…
In my experience, there is a sense – maybe more than a sense… maybe it’s closer to an assurance – of “all-rightness” that seems to be related to the presence* of God. It is not always rational or even explainable; sometimes it is flatly counterintuitive. But it’s as though the Creator smiles, touches, communicates, “It’s going to be alright.”
Sometimes joy violates my sense of justice. I might attenuate my celebration of someone’s good fortune because it strikes me as dissonant to their choices. This embarrasses me; I’m committed to learning a better, more generous-hearted way.
Sometimes I abstain from joy because I don’t think it’s congruent with my circumstances. I recognize my ridiculousness in this, but can still be very stubborn about it. Joy isn’t a wage – it’s a gift. Once received, it enlivens and empowers the rest of life.
*God's Presence is a huge topic unto itself -- one I'm not up to tackling today...
Copyright Scott Burnett 2006
I pulled these words out of their context, which is not a recommended practice. However, I believe the heart of what Nehemiah stated here is a universally transferable truth. The joy of the Lord is your strength…
In my experience, there is a sense – maybe more than a sense… maybe it’s closer to an assurance – of “all-rightness” that seems to be related to the presence* of God. It is not always rational or even explainable; sometimes it is flatly counterintuitive. But it’s as though the Creator smiles, touches, communicates, “It’s going to be alright.”
Sometimes joy violates my sense of justice. I might attenuate my celebration of someone’s good fortune because it strikes me as dissonant to their choices. This embarrasses me; I’m committed to learning a better, more generous-hearted way.
Sometimes I abstain from joy because I don’t think it’s congruent with my circumstances. I recognize my ridiculousness in this, but can still be very stubborn about it. Joy isn’t a wage – it’s a gift. Once received, it enlivens and empowers the rest of life.
*God's Presence is a huge topic unto itself -- one I'm not up to tackling today...
Copyright Scott Burnett 2006
Monday, March 27, 2006
eSphere revisited
"Your descendants will spread over the earth in all directions and will become as numerous as the specks of dust. Your family will be a blessing to all people." Genesis 28:14 (CEV)
Those words from the Book of Beginnings (Genesis) articulate God’s covenant with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, et al (in this particular instance being spoken to Jacob, also known as Israel).
all directions - spherical, radiating
specks of dust - multitude of particles
family - relatedness, connectedness... common point of origin (in this case, faith)
I can’t help but see a connection to Particle Theory, which Wikipedia describes as having to do with elementary constituents of matter and radiation, and the interactions between them. It describes the radiative and scattering processes of those particles. Furthermore, these phenomena do not occur under normal circumstances. In other words, an extraordinary interruption is required.
It looks an awful lot like a prefiguring of the eucatastrosphere (eSphere) decribed a few posts ago: a soul-scape shaped in the ripples of divine interruption...
From the beginning, God has challenged people of faith to be his blessing - to everyone, everywhere, all the time... infusing their communities with beauty, strength, generosity, affirmation, health, balance, patience, hope...
Those words from the Book of Beginnings (Genesis) articulate God’s covenant with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, et al (in this particular instance being spoken to Jacob, also known as Israel).
I can’t help but see a connection to Particle Theory, which Wikipedia describes as having to do with elementary constituents of matter and radiation, and the interactions between them. It describes the radiative and scattering processes of those particles. Furthermore, these phenomena do not occur under normal circumstances. In other words, an extraordinary interruption is required.
It looks an awful lot like a prefiguring of the eucatastrosphere (eSphere) decribed a few posts ago: a soul-scape shaped in the ripples of divine interruption...
From the beginning, God has challenged people of faith to be his blessing - to everyone, everywhere, all the time... infusing their communities with beauty, strength, generosity, affirmation, health, balance, patience, hope...
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