In the last devotion we talked about the “terminal malaise of abundance,” a phrase from the book Generosity: An Enhancement by Richard Powers. In that reflection, we mentioned all the activities and commitments that can drain life away, rather than enhancing it.
Today as we think about the “terminal malaise of abundance” we consider another kind of abundance. This time, not material possessions or time commitments, but “baggage.” Emotional and psychic baggage.
Our baggage can come from past experiences. Something didn’t go well once and we have steered clear ever since. Maybe our baggage consists of abuse – emotional, physical, or sexual – memories of which are always with us. Maybe our baggage involves attitudes inherited from our family or upbringing which no longer have a place in today’s world. Maybe our baggage includes messages that we got in childhood or at other times in life, negative, critical messages from which we have never recovered. Maybe our baggage is related to body image, or education level, or income status. Maybe our baggage comes from a relationship that ended badly. Maybe we are carrying around an abundance of messages, images, attitudes, and perspectives that we no longer need. Or which are having a detrimental effect on our lives. Maybe we are being drained by the effort that it takes to maintain this baggage. Perhaps we suffer from another version of the “terminal malaise of abundance.”
Whatever is draining us, stultifying our lives, preventing our freedom, weighing us down, holding us back, God is seeking to remove it. God desires to lighten our load. God wants us to flourish and thrive. Be careful of abundance. It could kill you.
Prayer: We pray that we are released from the damaging baggage that prevents us from being whole. We seek to lay our baggage down and be relieved of the burden. Turning aside from our baggage, may we live, truly live, with passion. Amen.
Lakewood United Church of Christ 