What Is Your Mindset?

Today's post comes from the writings of Fr. Henri J.M. Nouwen


As fearful people, we are inclined to develop a mind-set that makes us say: “There’s not enough food for everyone, so I better be sure I save enough for myself in case of emergency,” or “There’s not enough knowledge for everyone to enjoy; so I’d better keep my knowledge to myself , so no one else will use it” or “There’s not enough love to give to everybody, so I’d better keep it my friends for myself to prevent others from taking them away from me.” This is a scarcity mentality. It involves hoarding whatever we have, fearful that we won’t have enough to survive. The tragedy, however, is that what you cling to ends up rotting in your hands.

The opposite of a scarcity mentality is an abundancy mentality. With an abundancy mentality we say: “There is enough for everyone, more than enough: food, knowledge, love … everything.” With this mind-set we give away whatever we have, to whomever we meet. When we see hungry people, we give them food. When we meet ignorant people, we share our knowledge; when we encounter people in need of love, we offer them friendship and affection and hospitality and introduce them to our family and friends.

When we live with this mind-set, we will see the miracle that what we give away multiples: food, knowledge, love … everything. There will even be many leftovers.

Today I experienced exactly what Nouwen states in his reflection.

I am in the midst of preparing for our "Last Supper for Graduates" this Saturday. As I have been planning this event, I often wondered if I there'd be enough attendees, volunteers, food donations. Early on, students were not responding to the invitation. Thus, there was the possibility of canceling the event if a minimum number was not reached. Then there was the stress of recruting enough volunteers to help with set up and serve. Finally, I became concerned about pie donations from parishioners.

And, as always, everything falls into place when I relax and not have an anxiety attack like Martha in the scriptures! It's when I become more like Mary by "letting go and letting God," does it all come together. As of today, I have an abundance of students (and a one asked if they could bring a guest); almost too many volunteers and out of the clear blue sky, a pie donor came forward!

Today marks the third day of the Advent season -- a time of slowing down and preparing the "inn of our hearts" for the birth of a Savior, Jesus Christ. A time of rethinking our mindset. Do I choose to buy into the frenzy and chaos of the secular world? Or, do I choose to buy into the spiritual world's offer of prayer, serenity, joy, hope and love by actively breathing in the spirit?

May each of us accept the invitation the Advent season offers to us by experiencing the wonder of the season with a childlike faith. May we serve as Christ's light amidst the darkness in the world. May we find an abundance of love, joy, hope and peace amidst hatred, chaos, negativity and despair. If we think about it, each of us can be a channel of these spiritual virtues to the most unexpected person Christ puts in our path this Advent -- as we can serve in the opposite role as well!

I challenge each of us to find a way to make a difference to one person each day of the Advent season. Perhaps the gift we receive this Christmas is through our PRESENCE to others during Advent.