The Cup and The Gold
Examining our Relationship with Abundance
“But if hope should not fail, then I say to you, Gimli son of Glóin, that your hands shall flow with gold, and yet over you gold shall have no dominion.”
When I first read this utterance, I was floored. The passage, found within the pages of the Fellowship of the Ring, the first book of J.R.R. Tolkein's The Lord of the Rings, where Galadriel, one of the eldest and wisest of immortal elves, speaks this declaration over Gimli, held my attention for days. On the surface, the ideas behind this are so universal and foundational that they might seem obvious. Unfortunately, the depth in these words falls in the camp of things we understand but rarely live by.
This deceptively simple statement carries tremendous weight for each one of us. In a single phrase it reveals one of the great struggles of human nature, the tension between our innate and quite healthy desire for abundance and the devastating consequences to us when we begin to worship that gift, when we trade in the deep, peaceful satisfaction of an abundant life for the anxiety and insatiable longing of excess. This struggle, one as old as the first human footsteps, brings an upheaval to our interior world and stirs up compromise, avarice, and violence in our relationship to others.
The Struggle
To one extent or another, in all individuals and cultures, there is an inclination toward an obsession with material gain, followed by feelings of guilt, confusion, and shame if and when it does come. This is not a racial or cultural thing but a human one. We are so alienated from the notion that abundance, not scarcity, is the rightful state of mankind, that its seeming complete otherness when it does arrive, is seen as either a dream or a theft. Greed is born here, in the place where we fear abundance. And as we all know, what we fear most for too long, we begin to worship. To the extent each of us is both grateful for and relaxed with, a varying state of abundance, reveals whether we will govern our things or whether they will govern us.
I don't want to get pedantic with the specifics of greed, and peel back every layer of its minutiae. The sins borne up by rapacious obsession are easy to count. They are written on the pages of each one of our lives throughout the whole of human history. What interests me today is exploring the core idea here, that a man or woman should do their best to find an existence where they value, build, and lead with abundance in mind, yet, have no place whatsoever in their heart for the worship of possessions, wealth, or status.
“Making peace with abundance is possible even while the potential for perverting this state of mind remains close. In fact, keeping an open hand is one of the primary keys to a healthy relationship toward any amount of wealth, be it financial, relational, or intellectual.”
Worthy of a Party
When we learn to celebrate, humbly yet confidently, the fruits of our labor and our creativity, along with every blessing that comes our way by the goodness of others, we leave no place for shame or greed to hide. Making peace with abundance is possible even while the potential for perverting this state of mind remains close. In fact, keeping an open hand is one of the primary keys to a healthy relationship toward any amount of wealth, be it financial, relational, or intellectual. It is our easy grip on abundance that helps us keep it and use it well. It is our celebration of the work that brings about abundance, and the work it can accomplish in the lives of others, that affords us the right perspective, helps us avoid turning it into an idol.
One of our initial areas of weakness lies in our frequent inability to celebrate rightly. Yes, we know how to brag, to gloat, to party it up, to buy things we don't need and barely use, and generally make an ass of ourselves showing off to those who either envy us (which only increases their animosity toward us) or to those who could care less (which only makes us seem shallow and foolish). But how often do we rejoice in any meaningful way? How often do we take time to meditate on the quiet pleasures only available to us when we harvest the fruit of our lives with great consideration and gratitude? How often do we gather toward ourselves, people nearby to celebrate, not to brag but to share with them and to inspire or mentor, so they can produce the same fruits within their own lives?
The Potential
The idea of abundance often calls up images of farming, a process of reaping and sowing, gathering what we have worked so hard to cultivate. In farming, whenever they bring in a great harvest, a family finds themselves in a state of abundance. They have cause for celebration, a reason to invite their friends over and give thanks for the good in their lives. After all, it means provision and comfort. It affords them safety and sparks growth. It means the present boundaries of their family will not only be protected but expanded. Abundance doesn't merely establish a more solid present existence, it enables something that throughout history has often been difficult to come by, the means by which we can plan ahead more strategically and then take concrete steps toward these plans. This happens when we combine our intellect and bravery with our newly acquired resources.
Abundance has the potential to lead us into expansion in every area of life, the financial and intellectual, the relational as well as spiritual, as long as it is understood rightly and used wisely. More acutely, temporal abundance should lead us progressively toward an abundant life as a whole. The key term here being "should." You might argue that there's no way to guarantee that a season or a few seasons of success will lead to a more enriched life holistically. Technically, that may be accurate, since most of life doesn't work out the way we want.
In this case, however, we're not talking about chance or luck, we're talking about a shift in mindset, a reorientation of the way we view existence at its core. The more we understand abundance and its role within our lives, the more we will command the resources we have with greater ease and skill. To the extent we recognize the ability of abundance to create a deeper existence, its ability to create a more expansive one will become more automatic and finally take on a meaning it didn't have before.
Abundance isn't just a state of being but a state of mind and a condition of the heart. A mind that is abundant, unashamed of it, and full of generosity, wants to inspire and teach all those who long for understanding. A heart rich in abundance longs to pour out joy, gladness, recognition, connection, curiosity, forgiveness, honesty and intimacy into the hearts around them. A full cup runneth over. A vessel filled to its utmost has to be poured out so that it might be filled again. This continual filling, investing and building (or pouring out) and then refilling, is the rightly oriented state of human existence.
If we give into avarice or the worship of excess, and simply go on swimming around in our near-overflowing cup, drowning ourselves on the wine inside, we only drink ourselves into oblivion. Where there is wisdom there will be a storehouse of safety and provision with the capacity to provide for many and bring happiness to the same. Where there is pride and foolishness, there will be an emptiness of spirit, that even a thousand storehouses, each one overflowing, can never fill.
The Spark
One of the most effective aspects of an abundant outlook on life, is its predilection for inspiring creative thought, problem solving, and a shift toward innovation. This happens for a few reasons. The first being that greater wealth of any kind, be it monetary, real (property), intellectual, emotional, spiritual or relational, means we can access a greater volume of resources to help us build toward our goals and put our ideas into practice. The second is that eventually, unless obsession and control have gripped our thoughts, our work, and our family habits, abundance frees up our time for greater pursuits.
On a side note, and certainly worthy of its own essay, is that certain kinds of scarcity also inspire creativity. The idea that necessity is the mother of invention isn't wrong. Desperation combined with a strong will is one of the most powerful catalysts for development. But this is only accurate in finite seasons. Perpetual scarcity and continual disappointment have a way of scraping us down to the bone, slowly melting away whatever confidence or hope we thought were present.
It's no surprise then, that cultivating a life focused more on depth and meaning, along with creativity, learning, self-sacrifice, and connection, prepares us for seasons of greater abundance, and strengthens our interior walls so we can handle the possibilities that physical and spiritual wealth afford.
“Someone with a mind that understands the meaning of abundance, the joy of it, and its potential for reshaping life, is always ready to apply whatever surplus they have toward building even greater manifestations of existence, not only for themselves, but others as well.”
We've all read or heard of countless examples of those who simply fell into their riches, Powerball lottery and mega casino jackpot winners, or ungrateful and undisciplined heirs to a family fortune, a legacy that took generations to build which they will devour in only a handful of years. This is no judgement on those who spend too rashly and unwisely. I'm as frail and human as the next man or woman. But it's clear from these examples that most of us have a terrible time managing wealth, especially when we don't work or invest to earn it.
Some of the most loving and often generous people watched as their windfall shot out the ass end of their dreams as everyone around them sought to whittle them down and vacuum up a piece of their riches before there was nothing left to be found. The fact that any of us are capable of blowing through a hundred-million dollars in five or six years is almost an accomplishment of its own. Well, a kind of tragic, anti-accomplishment. Conversely, someone with a mind that understands the meaning of abundance, the joy of it, and its potential for reshaping life, is always ready to apply whatever surplus they have toward building even greater manifestations of existence, not only for themselves, but others as well. A mind in this state makes investments that create not only greater resources, but a more satisfying life for all those within reach.
We're mad fools most of the time, complaining about what we don't have while refusing to do the work that would bring us that very thing. We rail against those who have more than us, even when we know they worked relentlessly for years to build it. And when we do gather even a scant trace of abundance, we so often let it slide away on quick fixes and fading pleasures.
A Shift in Perspective: Made for Abundance
If then, abundance truly is a state of mind, not merely a state of being, then each of us has the ability to make choices based upon this reality. If, instead of seeing life as a random pit of nihilism, a temporal pleasure and pain trap, or a way to tap others and siphon them of the fuel we need, we view life as something overflowing with an infinite potential for growth and meaning, something ready to reward diligent work, creative thought, and a loving, generous heart, we will foster an environment of possibility and generosity in everything we touch.
Building an abundant life isn't as simple as thinking positive thoughts or spouting off self-help one-liners. It takes more work than most of us imagine, and we have to decide whether the burning discomfort of this work is a more tolerable pain than that which follows in the wake of regret. But how much better is a body worn to the bone that gets to rest in the shade of trees it planted, and sweeter, a mind that created what had scarcely been imagined not long before? And how much greater the ecstasy that burns inside the heart that sheds itself wide each day of love, respect, and kindness.
The idea that our hands and heart might overflow with riches of every kind yet never be bound by their afflictions is an immeasurably attractive one. The notion that we possess the ability to build better lives while avoiding the shackles of an homage and a sacrifice paid to the dark gods of scarcity and greed, might actually be possible, is worth taking beyond the theoretical confines of the written word and into the tangible world of the material and spiritual.
Any abundance, if it is to be held and not simply had, demands a concentration of wisdom and an open hand with our wealth. Investment in new opportunities, in new ideas, in personal growth, in the care of others, and in leadership, requires that we take risks, that we see beyond current limitations, that we avoid solipsism and narrow thoughts of ourselves and others. To live an abundant life is to recognize and celebrate life's beauty and potential. To live abundantly is to trade in the lie of perfect safety for the truth of risk and generosity. It is to sow and not simply hold, and it is to celebrate every good thing, whether great or small.
Whoever first convinced you that you weren't valuable, that you aren't worth living an abundant life or that life was simply a meaningless exercise in survival and pleasure addiction, sold you on one of the oldest lies ever told, and still one of the most devastating. They convinced you of the fiction that says a human being is little more than a filter for consumption, easy pleasure, and degradation, instead of what you really are, a vessel fit for great works, and a being made for continual revelation.