The tree stands so patiently,
Not asking, "What can I be?, What can I be?"
For a tree is as sure as a tree can be,
That its purpose in life is to be a tree,
Without a doubt, it knows its worth,
Roots delving deep into the Earth,
Branches standing strong and proud,
Pointing at the passing clouds,
All of nature loves the tree,
In its beautiful simplicity,
And without speaking, it teaches me,
To be happy with just being me.
I grew up in an environment of comparison. Maybe the same is true of you. From early on, even at the humble level of living in a mobile home, there were some homes that looked better than others and at the top of the hill was the park owner’s brick home where we had our cub scouts’ meetings.
How did things look to you in your early memories? Did the neighbors have more or less? How about the other school children? There are a number of spiritual traditions and philosophical arguments that tell us that our unhappiness stems from desire and desire from comparison.
Many of us have probably seen children fight over a toy, but only after one of them has it in their possession. Philosopher Rene Girard developed the concept “mimetic desire” for the observation that human desire is not autonomous, but rather arises from seeing what another possesses.
Jesus certainly talked much about money and possession and status, about how they can cause us to worry. He told about the folly of a man who stored up his grain in ever larger barns, and about a God who knows what we need before we know. He told us about a God who will provide. He showed us a generosity that is possible when we think of God’s abundant grace and love for all. He told us about a God who loves us equally as beloved children. Yet, we are well socialized into this world’s way of being, and there is comparison. There is sorting and distributing, and haves and have-nots, and we compare. We see possession and its absence, what others have and what we do not.
Others see us in the same way. And some steal, and others hoard, and some fret over where to store it all, and others fear there will be enough, and some work themselves to death. And others still, those blessed by the grace of God find some way in the midst of it all to be generous. By the grace of God they know they are enough because of who God says they are. They are happy because they know that in God’s eyes and heart they are enough.
You are enough.
Grace and peace,
Fr. Bill +