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Friends United Meeting |
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Quaker Life
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| Valiant for Truth | Contents |
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As I write this, the relief efforts for the tsunami survivors are going full blast. Floods and ice storms are causing major losses in the United States. And the never-ending appeals for my money bombard me in the mail and on TV — I’m beginning to have compassion fatigue. We, who have so much by the world’s standards, are being asked for much. But determining stewardship priorities for my money and time seems a bit daunting right now. Donne Hayden led a Right Sharing workshop at the USFWI Triennial last summer, which many Kenyan women attended. She stated, “I focused on how American Friends need to become conscious of the ramifi cations of our lifestyle choices and the spiritual cost of the “unexamined life” of consumption. I talked about having too much stuff, too much food, not enough time, not enough community. I watched the faces of my Kenyan sisters and I sensed they understood — in the midst of what we call their poverty, their lives have riches we can’t imagine, while in the midst of our “fi lled-up” lives, we often experience emptiness and spiritual hunger. “Later a U.S. Friend told me that one of the Kenyan women who had been at the Right Sharing presentation said she felt sorry for Americans — they have so much to think about and worry about.” (The Advocate, January-February 2005, pages 12-13.) When Jesus was overwhelmed by the need to feed so many with limited resources, He looked up to heaven and saw things from God’s perspective. And taking the fi ve loaves and the two fi sh Jesus looked up to heaven, and blessed, and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fi sh among them all. (Mark 6:41) Had Jesus continued to view the situation from an earthly perspective, no miracle would have happened. The matter of stewardship hits us in the face when what looks like impossible obstacles confront us. Right at fi rst we view our situation from a worldly perspective and not from God’s view. We can feel so overwhelmed we shut down and do nothing. Sometimes earthly problems have no earthly solutions but often we have several good choices we can make. Should I spend my money and/or time here? Or there? Then we need to see ourselves as God sees us. God always has the answers if we look to him in faith with the eyes of our heart. Blessings, Trish |
8 Who I Am ... God's Steward |