I once heard a parable of king riding in his carriage out of his palace and into the outskirts. Upon the journey, beyond his palace, the carriage broke down. The only person nearby to help happened to be a peasant. Surprisingly, the peasant managed to fix the carriage allowing the king to continue on his travel. In gratitude, the king, with his power, gave the peasant 4 flag posts. The king gave the peasant the opportunity to decide how much land he wants. All the peasant had to do was place these flag posts that spanned the land he wanted. The peasant was astonished. He could fulfill his dreams. He planted one post and then walked a distance of a great size plot. But he thought to himself, “why stop here? With more land there’s more I can do.” He decided to keep walking. He stopped another great distance affording himself a giant lot. Once again he thought, “why stop here?” The peasant kept going thinking he could have more. (I discovered that this parable is similar to the short story by Leo Tolstoy, How much land does a Man Need?)
Not the way you thought it would turn out, huh? I didn’t either.
Often we are granted the opportunity to claim more and strive for more. We think, in terms of the peasant, “with this much land I can build a home, but there’s so much more I can do with more land.” Rather, by considering what we truly want and defining it clearly, we can be satisfied with it without needing more.
Abundance means a very large quantity of something, so we welcome it. Sometimes, however, abundance is “to be satisfied with one’s lot.” Only when we can enjoy what we do have, can we responsibly and joyfully welcome in more.
Whereas when it come to physical things, the more we accumulate can be to our demise. However, we must always continue to nourish our soul!
Wishing you a new year full of spiritual growth and abundance of what you truly desire in health and wholeness!
