Abundant living is something that almost every human seeks, regardless of religious faith or lack of such faith. To live life in full measure without physical, mental, emotional or spiritual compromises is a common human goal. Although rarely attained, this dream of abundant life answers our deepest human longings. This hope of abundant living unites nearly the entire human family. Abundant living also lies at the heart of Christian faith. Abundant living is the mission for which Jesus lived and died. Jesus says, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).

While abundant living may be God’s will for humanity, there are strong powers in this world that work against abundant life. Just watch the commercials on TV for a while. How many of them tell us (you and me) that in some way we are “not good enough”? Here are some of the ways. Our teeth are never white enough, our waists are not thin enough, and our diets are not nourishing enough. We are not healthy enough, not generous enough, not beautiful enough, not feminine enough, not loving enough, not smart enough, not tall enough, not active enough, not masculine enough, not sensitive enough, not good-looking enough, not motivated enough, and not patient enough. We are poor parents, poor spouses, poor friends, poor colleagues, poor pet owners and poor neighbours. We are repetitively told that are incompetent, inadequate and unworthy – told so often that we begin to suspect that we actually are that way. We forget that God’s Creation (including us) is “good”.

When you host feelings of incompetence, of inadequacy and of unworthiness, the idea of abundant living feels like nonsense. And that makes it a lot easier to feel guilty. Most of us even believe that we are solely to blame for our shortcomings, inadequacies, accidents and unworthiness. And we have the blessed assurance of TV commercials to remind us of that if ever we forget it. Being told that we are incompetent, inadequate and unworthy and that we are to blame and should feel guilty about that is just preparation – an emotional appetizer. The main course in the TV commercial banquet is good news – whatever is lacking in your life is now on sale somewhere for some money.

The commercial message goes beyond just announcing the availability some remedy. The commercial assures us that we do not deserve to feel guilty; we can buy this because we deserve it and have earned it. We all know the patter. You do not need to feel

nade- quate; take this pill and you will perform magnificently for hours and will also lose inches from your waistline while you sleep! And although airplane tickets and hotel and restaurant bills might cost a bundle, the real value of the holiday that you have earned and deserve and have paid for on credit is priceless.

The pitch artists, hucksters, charlatans and salespersons of this world succeed because they offer relief from the feelings of incompetence, of inadequacy and of unworthiness in us that they first generate. Such relief should never be mistaken for abundant living. God’s offer of abundant life is something much different. Would you please think along with me for a moment?

God’s vision of humans living abundantly here on earth is an old idea. The Judeo-Christian-Islamic faith traditions all share the idea that God made Creation abundant – both bountiful and good. The Garden of Eden, as an earthly Paradise of plenty, also symbolizes that idea. Later, the Jewish prophet Isaiah expressed the idea of abundant living in terms his age might connect with [Isaiah 25:6-9]. To a world of half-starved herders and hungry subsistence farmers where meat was a rare treat, Isaiah says, “On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well aged wines strained clear.” God’s vision of living abundantly satisfies the physical hungers of this life and more. Isaiah goes on to say, “And he [God] will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; he will swallow up death forever.” God’s vision of abundant life includes bringing an end to one of the greatest of human terrors and fears – dying. When God’s kingdom (or City or Reign) becomes a reality here in this world, “God will wipe away the tears from all faces” and humans will be comforted and released from all the things that make us cry – pain, grief, sorrow and guilt – because none of these feelings belongs to the abundant living that is God’s holy vision for us humans.

The situation in which every human can experience life abundantly is what Christians name the Kingdom (or City or Reign) of God. Jesus taught followers to pray, “Your Kingdom come on earth”. The coming of the Kingdom (or City or Reign) of God is not about being carried off to some unearthly “other place” for ever. Nor does this prayer ask God to assume spiritual dominance or power over humans. Rather, this prayer offers a vision for human life in this world today – a word-picture of a time when humans freely align themselves to work for God’s mission that all “may have life and have it abundantly.” To help to bring nearer the Kingdom (or City or Reign) of God is to do something that is holy – something made holy because it shares in the holy mission of God to bring abundant living to others. Sharing with others who have less is holy work.

The universal Christian church is right now observing the season that comes immediately before the greatest of all Christian festivals – the Paschal Feast, called “Easter” in English. For Christians, Easter is the anticipation of abundant living in God’s coming Kingdom (or City or Reign). The resurrected Christ is the sign that God’s vision of abundant living will not be halted. Even the brutal armed might of a vicious and repressive military regime could not stop God’s vision of “abundant living” as it was expressed by one, unarmed, poor, itinerant Jewish peasant preacher. Indeed, within three brief centuries of his living, the spirituality of that marginalized peasant preacher became the dominant spirituality of the entire Empire whose small but cruel colonial army of occupation had once tried to suppress God’s vision through a crucifixion. Two millennia later after the first Easter, the life Jesus still proclaims today, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” Unlike some other faith traditions, Christianity embraces and celebrates our physical life to be enjoyed fully now in the abundance of this world that Jesus loved, embraced and sanctified.

If you want to observe a holy Lent, why not find a way to participate in God’s mission to share abundant life with those who do not experience it yet? If you want to observe a holy Lent, why not identify and seek forgiveness for the sins of participating in financial and commercial systems of oppression and exploitation? If you want to observe a holy Lent, why not give up feeling incompetent, inadequate, unworthy and guilty? If you want to observe a holy Lent, why not take up celebrating the life that is in us, the love that we can share and the bounty of God’s Earth? Why not keep a holy Lent by sharing with others the feast that God has prepared? And give up guilt for Lent!