THURSDAY, June 6 2 Corinthians 8:1-16. Their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. Some things, when given away, produce more of themselves. Most of the positive human emotions (and I suppose the negative ones as well) fall into that category. Love, respect, generosity. We can hoard those, feeling like we do not get enough of them as it is, without realizing that giving them away is the best way of increasing their amount in the world. Paul was trying to teach that to the church in Corinth in today’s epistle reading. He points to a set of poor churches that experience a strange alchemy— poverty and joy—that yields abundant generosity. Many who have visited poorer communities report back that there is such great joy and generosity in the people. It’s not that extreme poverty naturally produces joy, quite the opposite; but that generosity in any situation creates more of itself (the poor may more quickly take the risk in that daring experiment). Generosity is a gift that keeps on giving. I have learned in my marriage that there are not too many times a day to say “I love you.” Bringing the practice of generosity into daily life is one of the great keys to joy. (From Forward Day by Day)
Posted on: Thu, 06 Jun 2013 18:19:10 +0000
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