Enough - Monday Musing, August 9, 2021

Dear Church,

Enough: a quantity that satisfies or that is sufficient or necessary for satisfaction; all that is required. Do we have enough? Do we have: housing, a paid job or a source of income, transportation, money in the bank, health insurance, food? If the answer is yes, then we probably have more than enough since many people don’t have some or any of these things. When is enough enough?

Why do some of us have more than others? Some would argue that it is a result of our hard work, but certainly it is, in part, because we are privileged. What any of us has accomplished in our lifetime is the result of our race, family of origin, education, employment, upbringing, status in the community, or where we are from – all of these impact the opportunities that we have been afforded, where others have not been as fortunate. As people of faith, how do we respond to the privileged successes we have achieved in our lives?

Jesus said, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matthew 22:37-39) If the greatest commandment is to love, how do we show our love of others? The phrase “Love is a Verb” reminds us that action is required to show love. So while we may have enough because of privilege, a more important question is – are we doing enough?

Our faith teaches us to model our lives on Jesus. We know he was concerned about the outcast, those on the margins of society, those who were not privileged. So if we have enough, are we doing enough to help others? There are countless concerns in our world today, pick one: racism, economic insecurity/disparity, sexism, homophobia, homelessness, climate change, election security/voter suppression, and political intolerance/division, to name just a few. Individually, we cannot do enough on our own to solve all these problems. But collectively, we can do more than we could on our own. So are we? Are we doing enough?

As a church, our love must be shown not only by the things we believe, but also – and more importantly – by the things we do collectively. So I invite you to live-out our faith and participate in acts of love in our faith community, as we are able. Then and only then will that be enough. See you in church!

Faithfully,

Darren