There is a mystery that continues to confuse the innocents. At every corner you and I are taught to conserve. Things are in limited supply. Converting natural resources is something that one should only do with care. We should mind the environment, eliminate dependencies on fossil fuels, and carefully manage the impact of our behavior on renewable resources. If we care, our actions should extend beyond ourselves.
The theme that nothing is unlimited, unconditional, or completely free still pounds on my head. How many different ways can it be said? How many times do others think I need to hear it? How stupid can I be? Well, I still don’t get it. There are resources critical to our survival that can be renewed. This is a positive message that requires the best of what we have to ensure that the premise remains true. Certain things that we believe today are non-renewable can be recycled and yet we seem to have predetermined that this is not an option. Even worse, when we have options to non-renewable resources we decide as a group that we do not want to put our money where our words are; so our rhetoric is hallow and false.
I believe and enjoy the idea that I am a steward for the world around me. I do find myself puzzling over the final piece that appears to be lying about. Is Divinity bound by the same constraints? Is God’s reach, even as it is bigger than I imagine, limited? Is there something different about God from the world around me?
John gives you and me the first piece. “The One that God sent speaks God's words. And don't think he rations out the Spirit in bits and pieces.” (John 3.34) The second comes with our experience. We can have the Spirit in buckets! The more we give it away the more we receive. As precious, rare, and unusual as it is, the Spirit is also the one unlimited resource we have. Soak, bathe, breathe, consume, and then give it away! This can change everything.
