BIAY - Psalm 112 - Abundance

This past Monday, our conference minister, Rev. David Long-Higgins shared a prayer entitled Ridiculous Abundance:

Loving God,
Let me trust
Your ridiculous abundance
Scattering itself abroad
In reckless abandon
Carried by a wind of spirit
Caring nothing for boundaries
Set by human standards
Of who deserves what
And when and why and how.

Yes, release me
From every clenched
Part of myself intended
To be shared in delight
For blossoming in places
Unlikely and surprising
Giving pause to the rush
So often ignoring You
And your delightful whimsy

Draw me anew into this
Your scattering grace
Disguised as annoyance
Yet giving rise to color
Catching the eye
In some strange revelry
Of praise and thanksgiving.

O Love, help me live
In anticipation of You
Rising up like this
In Your many disguises
Turning my frustration
Into frolicking joy
Often overlooked
Except by children
Who join in blowing
Your seed all around
With the breath of life
You give to each
And every one.

Ridiculous Abundance, by Rev. David Long-Higgins

That same morning, I had read the following from Psalm 112:6-8

For the righteous will never be moved;
they will be remembered forever.
They are not afraid of evil tidings;
their hearts are firm, secure in the LORD.
Their hearts are steady, they will not be afraid;
in the end they will look in triumph on their foes.
They have distributed freely, they have given to the poor;
their righteousness endures forever;

That same day, I had walked through this tunnel while out on a walk and that moment in the tunnel spoke to me so much of the abundance that both the prayer and the Psalm share.  They both feel like a sense of choosing to see the abundance in life even when there is a reality of scarcity.  Standing in that short tunnel, I could focus on the grey, cold, cracked walls of the tunnel or I could have my eyes ahead at the abundance of green and life ahead of me.