At
Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God
said, “Ask what I should give you.” And Solomon said,
“You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant my father David,
because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in
uprightness of heart toward you; and you have kept for him this great and
steadfast love, and have given him a son to sit on his throne today. And
now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place
of my father David, although I am only a little child; I do not know how to go
out or come in. And your servant is in the midst
of the people whom you have chosen, a great people, so numerous they cannot be
numbered or counted. Give your servant therefore
an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and
evil; for who can govern this your great people?”
It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. God said to him, “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches, or for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, I now do according to your word. Indeed, I give you a wise and discerning mind; no one like you has been before you and no one like you shall arise after you. I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor all your life; no other king shall compare with you. If you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your life.”
I’ve recently
taken interest in Brene Brown’s book called Daring Greatly. She, a sociologist
by trade, uncovers much of what motivates us and our behaviors. She
specifically describes one component of the fear-based actions so many in our
world are currently living; it’s called “the myth of scarcity.” It’s the idea
that there’s just not enough for everyone, so you better take what you can,
even if it means A. Grabbing more than you need. B. Grabbing from someone who
needs it more. (think, I don’t know- empty toilet paper shelves in
March & April). The myth of scarcity means we’re always fearful there isn’t enough for all; so we learn mistrust
of neighbor, preoccupation with self, and worst of all, greed. You’ve seen it the
world over. You know it inside yourself. None of us are immune to its potential
hold on our lives. Greed is a powerful force for tearing apart people, nations,
families, and even beautiful communities like Pierre, SD. Unless, that is, we
counter that fear of scarcity with another- more powerful story. It’s the story
that begins in the garden of Eden, the story we hear in 1 Kings that continues
throughout the Gospels, taking root finally in the early church & even us
today. It’s the story of a God who supplies us our every need.
Interesting to note in Brene Brown’s
work, that the opposite of scarcity is not overabundance (they are two sides of the same coin). No, the anecdote to the myth of scarcity, is the truth of
enough. We have enough, not only for ourselves, but for everyone. Enough
food exists in this world to feed everyone, when distributed properly. Enough
love exists in this world, when we dare to believe that it grows when shared.
Enough courage lives within our hearts when we choose to live into it. Enough
is the anecdote to scarcity. And the path to believing that we have “enough” is
gratitude.
I just love King Solomon’s story here, in which the wisdom of gratitude is on full display. He acknowledges that
the power he’s been given- the ability to control the outcome of his people’s
lives- was not his own doing. He inherited his privilege, and he knows it. So
instead of allowing a culture of greed to dupe him into thinking he needs even
more, he asks for a way to use what he already has, well. “Give your servant
therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between
good and evil.” It’s not often a person
with power asks for wisdom to discern the common good- rather than how to
benefit himself. That’s a powerful spiritual practice for each of us, no matter
how much or seemingly little we do have, because it changes how we see
ourselves in this world. Glass half-full or glass half-empty? If our glass is
half-full, we have enough to share with others; if it’s half-empty, we’re well
on our way to living in fear.
I have a confession to make. I have been on Amazon.com a lot lately.
You know, presumably making my life better? Maybe it’s not Amazon for you,
whatever store you shop at. You know those product, right? It’s the water shoes
that are going to change my life. The sun umbrella that will keep my melanoma
skin cancer at bay. The camp rocking chairs that I know are just gonna make our
trip this coming week- perfect.
And this interesting thing happens when I’m on Amazon.com. I start to
realize all the things I don’t yet have- and I begin to need more! Well if I
get these running shoes, I should probably get the running socks too, right?!? It
only makes sense! Before I realize it, my cart is full, but my heart is still
left wanting. You know what I think that’s called? Greed.
So if we’re going to take a page out of Solomon’s playbook here, I
could probably (instead of asking for more stuff), ask for more discernment. Do
I actually need these items, or were the marketing algorithms just too
effective in my moment of weakness? There’s a lot of money to be made in this
world by convincing shoppers like me that we just don’t have enough. Here’s the
good news, though. That’s not the story we need to live with. We can decide
that what we have is already enough. This is where discernment plays a role,
like in the case of Solomon.
I happened to recently read about a technique some wise shoppers use-
they don’t let themselves buy things without first doing the 30-day test. They
“save for later” items of interest, and after 30 days, if they still truly want
and need that product, okay! Time to check-out. 30 days seems to be long enough
for us to discern between the myth of scarcity and the truth of enough.
This has saved me COUNTLESS times from buying an impulse product. And
I got to thinking- if I can practice this “I have enough” type of gratitude
with stuff- couldn’t I (couldn’t we) also practice this with something more
profound, like the relationships in our lives? Maybe we don’t need more
friends, just need to spend more attention and gratitude on the friends we do
have?
What if what King Solomon receives from God at the end of this story isn’t
more riches in the literal sense, but simply a greater awareness of the riches
he already has?
I have a deep friendship with 2 women I’ve known since kindergarten.
And this is another confession from me- I didn’t always appreciate the rich
blessing of their friendship. When I went off to college, I thought the grass
would be greener- that’s where I’ll make lifelong friendships, I was just sure.
And I did, to a degree, but thank goodness that Nealy and Katie stuck with me
through those college years of self-discovery, because this is what I found to
be true after college: my kindergarten friends knew me best and loved me most.
I already had enough friends, I just didn’t have the discernment yet to truly
cherish them.
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