Thursday, May 8, 2008

Brian’s Reflection: Friday, May 10, 2008


Once I was in Victoria, and I saw a very large house.
They told me it was a bank and that the white men place
their money there to be taken care of, and that by and by
they got it back with interest. We are Indians and we have
no such bank; but when we have plenty of money or blankets,
we give them away to other chiefs and people, and by and by
they return them with interest, and our hearts feel good.
Our way of giving is our bank.


- Chief Maquinna of the Nuu-chah-nulth

The Christian life is all about Eucharist - Taking, Blessing, Breaking, Giving. It can’t be about “making money”. Fostering Life isn’t about burying your talent in the earth and getting back nothing. It’s about putting it – oneself - out there in some form or other, and having it blossom and eventually come back to you as a surfeit of abundance. The more this happens, the more we give away the “money and the blankets” - metaphors for caring and loving and generosity and gratitude - the more not only we but the whole Creation are blessed, and the more the World is transformed into God’s Community.

Jesus gave Himself in love. It is a pattern for who we are as human beings, at our best. We are supposed to be like Johnny Appleseed, casting the seed out from the heart in joy, with singing and without fear. It will grow, and it will eventually be returned “with interest” and it will make our “hearts feel good”.

From the mustard seed of each of us, a mighty bush giving shelter to all will grow.

Brian+

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