Abundant Life

A friend posted on facebook a picture of her parents and her sons.  They are on the beach, all dressed in white shirts.  The parents are beautiful.  The boys are beautiful.  The beach is beautiful.  The sky is beautiful.  But, the thing that struck me was the wedding band on her father's hand.  The wedding band on that aging hand spoke of an abundant life.

I do not know my friend's parents at all.  I know nothing about their financial situation.  I do know they have an abundant life.  From the picture, I know they have had a life together that has given them at least one absolutely adorable daughter with a laugh that warms one's soul.  I know they have at least one very fine man as a son-in-law.  I know they have at least two precious grandsons.  I know they must be the kind of people with whom their grown children enjoy vacationing. 

Looking at that picture made me want to weep for Kim Kardashian.  Many people think she has the abundant life.  She has, apparently, a lot of money.  She has fame.  She had her own reality show...maybe she still does.  I watch a lot of junk on TV, but I do not watch The Kardashians.  She has her own designer line of purses.  She can jet all over the world at a whim.  She may have an abundance, but she does not have an abundant life. 

The people in that photo on the beach have an abundant life.  They have a life of commitment....to each other and to their family.  I have no idea what they have weathered in life, but I guarantee they are old enough to have had some bumps in the road.  It seems they have traveled successfully together. 

I wish the news media would just not report on the rich and famous and all their abundance.  I want to hear about people whose wedding bands have developed a warm patina with the passage of time, and are worn on aged hands.  The world needs to know about those abundant lives. The world needs to know what keeps people together.  We already know way too much about what drives people apart.  The world needs to know what people do to give their children and their grandchildren a sense of safety and happiness in their presence.  The world needs to learn the difference between having an abundance of things and living the abundant life. 

So for today, I wish you an abundant life granted by your loving Father, and I wish you

blessings