We each have the choice in any setting to step back and let go of the mind-set of scarcity. Once we let go of scarcity, we discover the surprising truth of sufficiency. By sufficiency, I don’t mean a quantity of anything. Sufficiency isn’t two steps up from poverty or one step short of abundance. It isn’t a measure of barely enough or more than enough. Sufficiency isn’t an amount at all. It is an experience, a context we generate, a declaration, a knowing that there is enough, and that we are enough.
In our relationship with money, it is using money in a way that expresses our integrity; using it in a way that expresses value rather than determines value. Sufficiency is not a message about simplicity or about cutting back and lowering expectations. Sufficiency doesn’t mean we shouldn’t strive or aspire. Sufficiency is an act of generating, distinguishing, making known to ourselves the power and presence of our existing resources, and our inner resources. Sufficiency is a context we bring forth from within that reminds us that if we look around us and within ourselves, we will find what we need. Lynne Twist

If something is adequate, there is enough of it, but only just enough.
If there is sufficient quantity of something, this suggests that there is as much of it as you need.

Sacred Text

Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God.
2 Corinthians 3:5

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.
2 Corinthians 9:8

Poem BY Vivian Fabreggs

One lie is enough to break a trust  one sentence is enough to break a heart,  one second is enough to lose the battle,  and one smile is enough to fall in love.  One mistake is enough to lose a job,  one touch is enough to heal a wounded heart  but whatever our pain,  whatever our struggle  our God is more enough.

the second advent candle

The tradition for the second Sunday of Advent includes lighting the second purple candle that is a symbol of faith.
As you light the second advent candle, may God’s spirit prepare your heart to receive Jesus as your king. May God’s grace abound in your life in this season of holy anticipation.

Story (original STORY BY Bob Perks)

I overheard a father and daughter at an airport in their last moments together. They had announced her plane’s departure, and standing near the door; he said to his daughter, “I love you; I wish you enough.”
She said, “Daddy, our life together has been more than enough. Your love is all I ever needed. I wish you enough, too, Daddy.” They kissed goodbye, and she left.
He walked over toward the window where I was seated. Standing there, I could see he wanted and needed to cry. I tried not to intrude on his privacy, but he welcomed me in by asking, “Did you ever say goodbye to someone knowing it would be forever?” “Yes, I have,” I replied.
Saying that brought back memories of expressing my love and appreciation for all my Dad had done for me. Recognizing that his days were limited, I took the time to tell him face to face how much he meant to me. So I knew what this man was experiencing.
“Forgive me for asking, but why is this a forever goodbye?” I asked.
“I am old, and she lives much too far away. I have challenges ahead, and the reality is, her next trip back will be for my funeral, ” he said.
“When you were saying goodbye I heard you say, ‘I wish you enough.’ May I ask what that means?”
He began to smile. “That’s a wish that has been handed down from other generations. My parents used to say it to everyone.” He paused for a moment and looked up as if trying to remember it in detail; he smiled even more.
“When we said ‘I wish you enough,’ we were wanting the other person to have a life filled with enough good things to sustain them,” he continued and then turning toward me he shared the following as if he were reciting it from memory.
“I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright. I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more. I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive. I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much bigger. I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting. I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess. I wish enough “Hello’s” to get you through the final “Goodbye.”  “When you were saying goodbye I heard you say, ‘I wish you enough.’ May I ask what that means?”
He began to smile. “That’s a wish that has been handed down from other generations. My parents used to say it to everyone.” He paused for a moment and looked up as if trying to remember it in detail; he smiled even more.
“When we said ‘I wish you enough,’ we were wanting the other person to have a life filled with enough good things to sustain them,” he continued and then turning toward me he shared the following as if he were reciting it from memory.
“I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright. I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more. I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive. I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much bigger. I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting. I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess. I wish enough “Hello’s” to get you through the final “Goodbye.”  

Rumination

“As you start to walk on the way, the way appears.”
Rumi

Benediction

(Translated by Mark Hathaway at Raydiantlife.com)
O Source of the Radiance, dancing in and about all that is, free us from all constrictions, so that the current of your life may move in us without hindrance. Fill us with thy creativity so that we may be empowered to bear the fruit of your vision. Moving to the heartbeat of your purpose, make us the embodiment of your compassion. Empty us of frustrated hopes and desires, as we restore others to a renewal of vision. Do not let us be seduced by that which would divert us from our true purpose, but illuminate the possibilities of the present moment. For you are the ground of the fruitful vision, the birthing-power and the fulfillment, as all is gathered and made whole, once again. Amen.

God is our sufficiency in all things