Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly — mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? 1 Corinthians 3:1-3
“We must reflect that, with the help of God, we can strive to have a great contempt for the world, no regard for honour, and no attachment to possessions. For so ungenerous are we that we imagine the earth will go from under our feet if we try to forget the body a little and to cultivate the spirit. Or, again, we think that to have an abundance of all we need is a help to recollection because anxieties disturb prayer. It distresses me to reflect that we have so little confidence in God, and so much love for ourselves, that anxieties like this upset us. When we have made so little spiritual progress, the smallest things will trouble us as much as important and weighty things will trouble others, and yet in our own minds we presume to think ourselves spiritual. Now to me it seems that this kind of life is an attempt to reconcile body and soul, so that we may lose neither comfort in this world nor fruition of God in the world to come. We shall get along all right if we walk in righteousness and hold fast to virtue, but it will mean advancing at the pace of a hen and will never lead us to spiritual freedom.”
Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582) in The Life of Teresa of Jesus: The Autobiography of Teresa of Ávila, trans. and ed. by E. Allison Peers (Critical Edition of P. Silver De Santa Teresa, C. D.) 80.
For many people, attachments to possessions, which in their minds aims at lessening anxieties, actually serves to increase them, and it makes them ungenerous.
In exploring the theme of abundance, I find Teresa of Ávila’s comments appear to mirror the Apostle Paul and his letter to the Corinthians. Worldliness hinders spiritual growth, or in graphic terms, “it will mean advancing at the pace of a hen and will never lead us to spiritual freedom.”
Let’s not aim at preserving “comfort in this world” but rather share according to our ability. When we do, our giving reflects biblical generosity, and our living shows we chose the path of righteousness.
It’s been great to visit Florida to see my parents, my brother and his wife, and our two nieces, one of which graduated from Warner University. We’ve also been blessed to see the condo God has supplied for my parents, adjacent to campus. God abundantly looks out for the needs of humble servants.
We took them to see the Atlantic Ocean for the first time since they moved here (pictured above on our drive yesterday between Vero Beach and Cocoa Beach). We fly home today, thankful for a short but sweet visit.