Via the Diocese of Western Massachusetts
The Rev. Christopher Carlisle, the Rt. Rev. Douglas Fisher, and Steve Abdow write:
There is only one story in the Christian gospels that has to do with gambling. And it happens at the death of Jesus. For all the wondrous hope that Jesus inspired in his corner of the Roman Empire — that the poor were not alone, that wealth was not enough, and that life’s riches came by sharing — for three days, [Jesus’] death appeared to be the death of a miraculous abundance that was generated not by acts of possession, but by acts of self-giving and sharing.
The Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts has committed itself to a stated mission of “Celebrating God’s Abundance.” Unlike its often vague connotation, here “abundance” bears a technical meaning: if in the world’s economy, the more one takes, the more one ultimately has, in God’s economy, the more one gives, the more one ultimately has.
In this regard the nature of the material world is different from the nature of God. In the material world where resources are scarce, one must possess in order to survive. In the world of God’s abundance, to truly live, what one has must be shared with others.
Image courtesy of morgueFile.
Matthew Townsend is a Halifax-based freelance journalist and volunteer advocate for survivors of sexual misconduct in Anglican settings. He served as editor of the Anglican Journal from 2019 to 2021 and communications missioner for the Anglican Diocese of Quebec from 2019 to 2022. He and his wife recently entered catechism class in the Orthodox Church in America.
