Re: abundance and scarcity

[Kent Crawford]

for those interested in exploring more behind wendie's really good questions, brueggemann has a piece called 'the liturgy of abundance, the myth of scarcity' which can be found at:   http://www.religion-online.org/cgi-bin/relsearchd.dll/showarticle?item_id=533   "By the end of Genesis 47 Pharaoh has all the land except that belonging to the priests, which he never touches because he needs somebody to bless him. The notion of scarcity has been introduced into biblical faith. The Book of Exodus records the contest between the liturgy of generosity and the myth of scarcity -- a contest that still tears us apart today."   :-)   kent     ----- Original Message ----- From: Wendie Wilkie To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, January 15, 2004 9:53 AM Subject: abundance and scarcity I  am interested in people�s ideas on theologies of abundance and theologies of scarcity and how it affects our attitudes and actions.  It is raised for me a bit by the reading this week on the wedding at Cana and the thought of all that wine � 150 gallons!!  But also linked in with other stories of abundance  and extravagant actions in the gospels.    Does our church have a theology of scarcity and does it then hoard and hang on to � at all levels !!  Do we operate under a scarcity mentality � and therefore think too much about what we can afford to give away � time, money, ideas, information, love? Worry about what we might need to keep for later?   What about all the money congregations and synods and others have in funds for �what if� / for a rainy day?  Many in our congregations lived through the depression and scarcity in war etc or were affected deeply by parents who did. How does that experience affect them/us?  Does the current world insecurity and dependence on international money markets    lead us to a scarcity mentality or at least a very cautious attitude to what we do personally and in the church.   What if we operated out of a theology of generosity � how would we balance responsible financial management  and accountability with generosity?  Would it help us to take more risks?  Personally, in mission, with our money?  Would we be more open, free,  or setting ourselves up to be taken advantage of?  Would it make it easier to release energy and money or would we be more reckless? Are we really generous with our loving and living or is that also affected by a scarcity mentality?.   Wendie Wilkie