Share in your abundance

Generosity is one of the virtues that everyone agrees is important but often struggles to practice in meaningful ways. It’s easy to drop a few coins in the bucket or share an Instagram post about giving, but what does it mean to truly live generously?

Dorothy Day, founder of the Catholic Worker Movement, didn’t pull any punches when she said, “If you have two coats, you’ve stolen one from the poor.” She jolts us from our comfort zones, inviting us to rethink our relationship with the possessions in our lives and challenging a system that makes the hoarding of resources seem normal.

Greed, at its core, is about fear – the fear that there won’t be enough. It’s a mindset that whispers “hold on tight to what you have, or you might lose it.” The good news of Jesus flips this narrative. John the Baptist told his followers in Luke 3:11 “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none.” Sounds a bit like Dorothy.

This call to action means taking on a posture of abundance, believing that under Christ’s Lordship, there is enough for everyone – if we are willing to share. Living generously doesn’t have to mean selling everything you own and making grand gestures. We can cultivate a generous life one small decision at a time.

Start by asking yourself:

1. What do I have in abundance that I can share?
2. Who in my community might benefit from my time?
3. How can I disrupt greed in my heart and the world around me?

Dorothy Day’s words may seem challenging, but they call us to a truth that all we have has been gifted to us as things to enjoy, but more importantly, as things to share.