Be a Stream, Not a Swamp

2015-10-01

I invite myself to grow my sense of abundance in these ways…

1. Remind myself to bless other people, even if it’s only by saying “I like your laugh,” or “It’s good to see you this morning.” Blessing can be asking a question about the other person’s life or family, and then listening with full attention to the answer.
2. Serve people, especially people I don’t know. Make some food for them, serve at a soup kitchen, lobby for legislation that will make soup kitchens less necessary, learn the names of the children in my congregation.
3. My spirit deepens into abundance when I practice gratitude. For the food I eat, for the beauty around me, for conversations and encouragement, for the things on my body that still work well, for hot water that comes right out of a tap in the wall, for family and love, for a car that runs, for the chickens in the yard, for the congregation I serve, for the feel of wind and water. For the bravery I see every day, for kindness and unexpected good, I am grateful. When I remember to be.
4. I grow spiritually by giving, even when I don’t have that much stored up. One writer, Victor M. Parachin, put it this way:
   [quote style=”boxed”]Be a stream, not a swamp. Remember, it is the mountain stream that carries fresh, life-giving water because it flows out. However, the swamp is stagnant. A swamp collects and retains water that comes its way. Don’t be the kind of person who seeks to accumulate much before allowing a little to flow through.[/quote]

When I own things I don’t use—clothes, furniture, even books—spiritual teachers will say that those things don’t belong to me. I need to let them go find their rightful owners.

When I lose track of a sense of “enough-ness,” it becomes a sickness of the spirit, and I start feeling stagnant, anxious and swampy. I heal my spirit by finding abundance in what is already there, and by keeping it flowing like a stream.