Pathways Press.com

MEDITATION:

Written by J. Brent Bill, a contemporary author of Quaker spiritual literature who has also worked as a pastor.   This is an excerpt from his book “Beauty, Truth, Life, and Love.”

Are you living the abundant life?  An abundant life—not an abundance life. There’s a significant difference between the two. Many of us middle-class North Americans are living the abundance life. We have more things than ever. Bigger televisions that grow smarter every day. Technology-laden cars telling us when we’ve drifted out of our lane or applying our brakes when someone in front of us stops suddenly. Computers more powerful than the ones that helped land men on the moon are held in the palms of our hands. Yet, for all our stuff, Henry David Thoreau’s 19^th – century dictum that “the mass of men [and women] lead lives of quiet desperation” is still true…Perhaps our lack of happiness or sense that our lives are less than they could be is because our abundance life is rooted in transient things. A dip in the economy can wipe out a lifetime of savings. Trade wars can raise the cost of goods to unaffordable levels, result in the elimination of jobs, put farmers out of business, and more. Plus, all these televisions, tablets, phones, cars, and clothes are constantly being replaced by new and better ones. Advertising, social media, and the like tell us we must have them. And, judging by our buying habits, we believe it…The sad thing is, I’m tempted by the new gadgets. I want those cool improvements. They won’t though, bring me the abundant life. When I am silent and still, I realize that the abundant life is a spiritual state of being. The abundance life is an acquisitional way of living. The abundant life that Jesus came to give us reveals itself in things such as “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”…What will bring these things is growing into the person God created me to be, doing the work God meant me to do, being in the relationships I am supposed to have, and so on. I believe that the abundant life is found in four essential ideals. They can guide us into the life Jesus promised if we incorporate them into our daily lives. These four ideals are beauty, truth, life, and love. I think one reason that we who desire the abundant life miss living it is that we don’t often think about those four things as relating to life of the spirit and faith…Beauty, truth, life, and love move us beyond doing life and faith correctly into doing them well. They are central to the very essence of the life God desires for us to live because they are the very essence of God.

PRAYER:

Written by Janet Thompson, a contemporary speaker and author.

Lord, please guide me to the purpose and plans for which you created me. Help me to be receptive even when they’re not what I expected. Show me your ways, Lord. I want to live abundantly following the calling you have for my life. Amen.