The Fear of Not Having Enough: Challenging the Scarcity Thinking of Genesis 13

I've mentioned that fear can keep us from recognizing the truth, beauty, and creativity within ourselves and other people in various ways.  It crops up again in Genesis 13, in a way that has created conflicts that have spanned generations.
 
Fear can also lead us to dig in our heels about issues of entitlement.  Whether we think we deserve something because we have worked hard for it, because someone made a promise to us, or because we deem it unfair that someone else should have something we don’t, a sense of entitlement is a sure way to work against the truth and beauty within us.  It may be a salary range, a particular car, a specific-size house, or a piece of land.  It could even be a designer purse or pair of shoes or a piece of electronic wonder.  Believing that we are entitled to it, whatever it is, can be an incredible roadblock to happiness.

One problem is that we seem never to have enough.  If we get the house we want, we need a bigger one.  If we get the land we want, we need more of it.  If we get the toys we want, we need the newer model.  And when we treat people like possessions, it works the same way.  Whatever it is that we believe we are entitled to have ultimately fails to satisfy us completely.

Here is a difficult truth, if only because it seems so harsh: Life is not fair.  Some people have more and some people have less.  Some people get sick and some people stay well.  From the outside looking in, it seems that some people have it easy and some people can’t catch a break.  There are some things we can do to improve our chances of getting what we want in life.  Insisting that our lives be different out of a sense of fairness isn’t one of them.

Not only is life not fair, life does not make any promises.  Even if parents and teachers and ministers and authors told us differently, there are no actual guarantees about what we will have or what we will lose in the course of our lives.  People who work hard often get the income they want, but not always.  People with healthier diets sometimes live longer, but not all of them.  There is no secret formula that will ensure with 100% certainty that our lives will be what we want them to be, as individuals or as a people.

There is good news in all of this, even though no one is really entitled to anything and even though there are no guarantees.  There is enough.  When we engage our innate sense of deep truth, beauty, and creativity, there is enough of whatever it is that we want.  There is enough land.  There is enough food.  There is enough money.  There is enough.  Certainly, there are some commodities that are scarce, but the things that are necessary are plentiful.  We may lack sufficient crude oil for all that we would like to do, but we do not lack sources of energy.  Recognizing opportunities and abundance simply requires a different baseline premise.

If we begin with the premise that a divine being made a promise to someone thousands of years ago, and that we are entitled to reap the benefits of that promise, immediately we run into trouble.  Other people may have just as much of a sense of entitlement as we do, and both sides may go to great lengths to defend that belief, with neither side being able to offer any real evidence toward the validity of their claim.

If, on the other hand, we begin with the premise that there is plenty, we then get to engage our creativity in an entirely different way.  We are capable of creating a multitude of solutions to any challenge of resources, but a sense of entitlement unavoidably limits what we can create.  When we start off accepting that no one is entitled to anything, no matter who they are or what promises may have been made, our true strengths as human beings have an opportunity to shine.  There is not only a way for everyone to have access to what is necessary, there is certainly a way for everyone to have access to what is desirable, if only we are willing to seek it out and engage our minds and actions in creating it.

The Wisdom of Acknowledging Similarities over Differences: Rewriting Genesis 11

One of the most familiar biblical tales, the story of the Tower of Babel appears in Genesis 11.  It makes sense to blame or credit a divine force for the dispersion of cultures and peoples, and from the context, it even seems like this was considered a wise thing to do.  My revision, or course, stems from a radically different perspective. 

We like to notice differences.  It’s something that our brains do well.  Differences in language, for example.  Some might say that if it weren’t for our differences, we could accomplish just about anything as a unified people.  But when we start looking for differences between people, the list is nearly unending.  Every culture has its own unique way of doing things, its own stories, its own songs, its own language.  Every family has its own unique history, its own traditions, its own inside jokes.  Every person has unique experiences, beliefs, strengths and weaknesses.  However minutely we might want to parse groups or individuals into different categories, there are innumerable differences we can use as criteria.

Like children with a healthy sense of curiosity, we may notice all of these differences and wonder why.  Why are we not all the same?  Why do we have different stories, different songs, different traditions, different strengths?  Some people think there must be a good reason for us to have so many differences.  There must be a good reason for us to have such an obstacle in the way of accomplishing the great things we could do if we shared more in common.  Some of us might conclude that a higher power must have ordained the vast differences we observe.

Of course, there’s also something within us that hates to be wrong.  If someone does something or believes something differently from us, then we slip easily into judging which is right and which is wrong.  Most of the time, we are quite insistent that our language or beliefs or traditions are right, and therefore those that are different must be wrong.  If we have the approval of a higher power supporting us, then we have even more reason to be convinced of our own rightness.

If we take a step back to the question of why all these differences exist, there’s a possibility that we don’t really need an answer.  Merely accepting that there are differences between people and families and cultures might even lead us to look for commonalities.  Not only does the list of commonalities between people extend at least as far as any tally of differences, the truth and beauty and creativity at the heart of every person certainly outweighs any differences we may perceive.  In fact, that very sense of truth and creativity is what allows us to overcome any challenges that arise because of differences.

The 21st-century world has room for a multitude of beliefs and traditions and songs and languages.  While there are ethical and moral circumstances in which right and wrong are legitimate concerns, our personal beliefs and cultural traditions are not truly threatened if we give credence to the beliefs and traditions of others.  Humanity is full of differences, but human creativity, persistence, and ingenuity have devised ways to overcome those differences time and again.  We are actually alike enough that it is essentially as though we all share a common language.  When we truly acknowledge all that we share in common with one another, nothing we plan to do in unity will be impossible for us.