Rich
Realizing Your Abundance
Introduction
This week I have been thinking about the word “rich.” What does it mean to be rich? Am I rich? Are you rich? In this issue of the “R-series” of The Adventure of Reflection I ponder how to be rich by realizing your abundance. Thank you for joining me. You are part of MY abundance, part of what makes me rich.
Note about the image. My husband took this picture three weeks ago during a fireworks show. This is the same adorable child featured in Re-Membered.
A Minute of Motivation
Love
Ask most people what the opposite of “love” is, and they’ll say “hate.” But the real opposite of love is indifference.
Love is the attitude of caring for another person. Indifference is the absence of any feeling toward a person.
If you’re having trouble getting along with someone, try to see him or her from the perspective of concern and compassion. In resolving difficulties between people, love will find a way – indifference will find an excuse. I am speaking here of a love that transcends physical appearances or personality differences, a love that expresses interest in the well-being of others, regardless of who or what they are. This is the same kind of love you would like others to have for you.
Seek to see others through the rose-colored glasses of love.
Note. Originally published in 1992; re-published here because of the richness in our lives we can share with others by responding to them in love rather than indifference. There are four more of these pieces to re-publish; soon a change is coming in this section.
Enjoy Life More
Realize How Rich You Are
I am rich. I have more material possessions, aka stuff, than I can adequately manage. I have more friends and family members than there is energy and time to enjoy. I have a library of books and a library of music, something only royalty of generations past would have possessed. My health is good. My faith is strong. And I have an abundance of clothes, shoes, and jewelry.
Nonetheless, I, like most people, notice what is missing or wrong rather than all the overwhelming abundance. My children and grandchildren are too far away. My professional world has changed too much in recent years. Some of my clothes don’t fit anymore. You get the idea.
But I am rich. Really, truly rich. To enjoy life more, I need only to realize how rich I am.
Are you rich? I’m fairly confident you, too, are rich, if you are reading this. To enjoy life more, shift your perspective away from what is wrong or missing, to the abundance in your life. There is so much! So very, very much.
Faith Corner
“The Lord is rich in love, compassion, and mercy for everyone.” (see Psalm 145:8-9)
What do you give someone who has everything? That’s the modern gift-giver’s dilemma. With our homes stuffed with possessions, what gift would be welcomed and appreciated?
And then there’s the Creator of the universe. Now there’s someone who literally has everything. If being rich is to have abundance, it’s safe to say that the Lord of the universe is rich.
But the writer of the 145th psalm, or song, doesn’t focus on the Lord’s abundance of possessions. The Lord’s wealth highlighted here is how He feels towards the people He made. The writer describes the Lord’s wealth as being “rich in love, compassion, and mercy” for everyone He has made. The Lord’s abundance is how much He cares, not about stuff, but about people.
Are you feeling low on love, compassion, or mercy for someone in your world? I know I get that way quite often, irritated by the inadequacy of others. We have a rich resource, an unlimited one, in the love, compassion, and mercy of our Creator.
Dear Lord, I confess to sometimes focusing on the irritating and inadequate qualities of the people in my world. Thank You for being rich in love, compassion, and mercy towards me and towards the people I find annoying. Help me to recognize how rich I am. Help me to respond to the people in my world with an abundance of care and compassion. Thank You for helping me live in greater awareness of the abundance You have provided in my life. Amen.
Note. If you want to do your own investigation of any of the scriptures I use, I suggest you go to Bible Gateway. This free online resource of the Bible allows a search of words or phrases. Various translations can be selected from the old-time language of the King James version to the more modernized language of The Message.
Poetry Pause
I am Rich
If being rich is to be wealthy,
And being wealthy means having abundance,
Than I am quite wealthy;
I only need to focus on my abundance,
Not my deficiencies.
I am rich.
By Cindy MacGregor, September 21, 2023
Note. Am I rich? What does it mean to be rich? This poem resulted from a dictionary review of the words “rich” and “wealthy.” The defining connection is abundance.
Old Mom to Young Mom
Maximize Cuddle Time
For the record, because this is my platform, I am going to say this: I don’t understand “sleep training.” In my opinion, children have plenty of time to learn how to go to sleep on their own before they leave home at 17 or 18 years old. Why force them to learn to fall asleep alone when they are little?
I spent many nights of my life as a young mom with a little one by my side or in my lap. I sang another song or read another book for as long as was needed for a restless child to fall asleep. Sometimes this was a very long process. Would it have been easier to limit the book-reading to one book and the song-singing to one song? Certainly. But, in gaining the time each night to not be with each child I would have lost all that extra cuddle time. I am a believer in maximizing cuddle time with children.
I guess my perspective is different than the busy, tired parents who are using sleep training. Their choice of extra time to themselves each night is valid. My perspective, as an old mom to young parents, is through the lens of the incredibly finite years of childhood. Now, as Grandma, I will abide by the wishes of my children, now parents, and leave my grandchild to fall asleep alone. Unless, of course, I happen to be so tired that I doze off beside them.
Dear Dr. Mac
Dear Readers:
Several of you sent messages regarding the beautiful photo of me with my third grandchild, part of the Re-Membered issue. I found the picture when searching deep in my digital files. Taken in June of 2020, it, like many blessings from that difficult year, had been forgotten. I am so glad I found it and remembered the abundance of this grandson’s arrival! I decided to include a recent picture in this issue of the newsletter so you can see that sweet child now and the love he and I share.
You can find all my previous posts at ARCHIVE. You can find the first 64 issues in an organized compilation at Reflective Adventures: Volume One.
You can share your thoughts with me by leaving a comment, in the box below, or you can email me at: Dear Dr. Mac. I love to hear from you!