How did it happen, God?
How did we come to believe in scarcity?
In “not enough to go around;”
In “you gotta look after yourself”?
How did we miss the plenty bursting out around us?
How did we fall for the deception that what we can grasp in our hands
would ever be enough?
How did we grow so blind and so foolish,
that we would allow so much beauty and life,
joy and laughter,
sharing and love,
to pass us by unnoticed?
How poor we have become, and how poor we have made others,
simply because we forgot your infinite, overflowing abundance;
because we allowed ourselves to think
that sharing and giving
leaves us with less;
because we nurtured appetites that are never satisfied
unless they have far more than is needed,
thinking our gluttony would silence our fear.
Forgive us, and teach us about your generosity again;
remind us that you are able and willing
to do far more than we can imagine;
and open our eyes to the plenty we enjoy,
the plenty we can share,
and all the plentiful goodness in our world
that cannot be owned, but can enjoyed by all.
Amen.
