Celebrating Abundance on Thanksgiving

As we join family and friends for Thanksgiving dinner, we offer prayers in appreciation for the abundance we enjoy, often remembering the Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving. What is abundance? Is it just about food, shelter, and freedom from government oppression as the Pilgrims cited in their prayers of thanks? Is abundance about money and riches?

Abundance is defined as an extremely plentiful supply, as in “an abundance of grain.” It may mean an overflowing fullness, “an abundance of the heart.” Some see abundance in financial terms as in affluence or wealth and the ability to enjoy the fruits of prosperity. Which definition comes the closest to purposeful living and spiritual health?

True abundance is not about money. The Tenth Commandment instructs, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.” Our Creator forbids greed and the desire to amass earthly goods without limit. We are not to harm our neighbor in his or her temporal goods, nor cheat or steal. God forbids avarice arising from a passion for riches and the attendant power that can accompany wealth and position. It is not wealth per se that endangers the soul. It is how you attain it and deploy it that matters.

True abundance is measured not by material yardsticks but by intangibles, the first of which is appreciation. Of the 102 original Mayflower passengers only 44 survived the first harsh winter on this continent to give thanks for the harvest in the fall of 1621. We know that the prophets, the apostles, and the saints thanked God constantly for blessings, even midst physical and material deprivation and suffering. What do you appreciate?

Do you see the beauty in God’s creations? Glory in a starlit night, the power of a waterfall, the intricacy of a single snowflake, a sunset on a placid sea, majestic mountains, a solitary tree in a desert landscape? Can you look into the eyes of a child and fail to see the face of God? Can you hold a puppy or kitten and not marvel at a ball of fur and joy?

True abundance comes from a sense of humility. The Book of Sirach was written in Hebrew between 200 and 175 B.C. by Joshua ben Sira and included maxims to deal with both poverty and wealth in one’s relations with neighbors, community, and God. He instructed, “My son, conduct your affairs with humility, and you will be loved more than a giver of gifts. Humble yourself the more, the greater you are, and you will find mercy in the sight of God.” (Sirach 3:17-18)

One cannot have abundance without love, being loved, and living in a spirit of love, giving love. When you give of time, talent, and treasure to sustain your family, to help a relative, friend or stranger, to support your spiritual home, to grow a ministry, a charity, or other outreach, this is the greatest form of love, sacrificial love!

True abundance rests on a spirit of self-worth. The apostle Paul in his first letter to Timothy declared, “If any man does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” (1 Timothy 5:8) In your role as a spouse, parent, grandparent, breadwinner, nurturer, friend, leader, example, how do you measure up in terms of fiscal, physical, and spiritual fitness? If you died today, what is left undone?

Is abundance about happiness? Writer and humorist Leo Rosten wrote, “I cannot believe that the purpose of life is to be happy. I think the purpose of life is to be useful, to be responsible, to be compassionate. It is, above all to matter, to count, to stand for something, to have made some difference that you lived at all.”

A friend of mine, Mitch Anthony, author of The New Retirementality, speaker, writer, and financial life planning coach, opines, “My conviction is that ‘contentment’ in whatever circumstance we find ourselves in is a highly underrated path to abundant living.” How many rich, famous, and envied people are destroyed by bad habits and choices?

He who dies with the most toys wins? Not really!

May you and yours celebrate a truly abundant Thanksgiving!

Lewis Walker is President of Walker Capital Management, LLC. Certain advisory services offered through The Strategic Financial Alliance, Inc. (SFA). Lewis Walker is a registered representative of SFA which is otherwise unaffiliated with Walker Capital Management, LLC. lewisw@theinvestmentcoach.com