The miracle of abundance

A fourth-century mosaic in the church of the Loaves and Fishes at Tabgha in Galilee commemorates the miracle of the multiplication.

There is more than enough of everything to go around in the world. The poverty, of all forms, we see around us today is not so much because of a lack of resources, but a lack of a mentality of abundance within.

What is an abundance mentality? When we have an abundance mentality, we feel free to give of everything we have. We believe that there is more than enough to go around. We have seen the miracle of multiplication. We share easily. We need not be rich to have an abundance mentality; more often it is the poor who show us how to share.

The opposite of an abundance mentality, is a scarcity mentality. When we live from this mentality we live out of fear that there will not be enough for us to survive. We hoard. We do not share. We keep our time to ourselves, our money to ourselves and our friends to ourselves. We are afraid that if we share these, we will lose all of it.

There is absolutely no truth in that kind of mindset. Have you ever been invited to a family gathering where everyone had to bring a plate of eats? There is always more than enough—even when you think, “will there be enough, what I am bringing looks so little”. But once we have put all the things together, it looks like a feast. This is when we see the miracle of multiplication.

When we have an abundance mentality we can share more than just food. In our organisations or parishes or workplaces or families, as leaders, we need such a mentality to feed people around us. We feed people with praise and affirmation.

Many times we do not do this out of fear that other people will look better than us when we praise them. We think that when someone else receives the praise, all the praise in the world is now given to that person and that there is now no more praise left for us. How silly!

What happens when you receive a word of praise or congratulations for a job well done from your manager? You feel empowered. You feel inspired to tackle even a bigger job. You feel you can do more. That is the miracle of multiplication.

Christ said: “I have come that you might have life, and have it abundantly.” When we live with a mindset of abundance, we will see the miracle that what we give away multiplies: food, knowledge, praise, love, everything.

There will even be many leftovers.