The Theology of Pandemic #5
Scarcity and Abundance in the time of Covid-19
In my previous post I wrote about the apocalyptic moment we are in, specifically what the Covid-19 pandemic is revealing. One specific thing this global pandemic is bringing to light is a belief in scarcity.
Scarcity has shown up in this crisis in the North American context in the crowds of people that rushed to the stores and over bought basic supplies. The fact that toilet paper was hoarded is a glowing example of my cultures belief that there is not enough. This greed, often exercised by those with the resources to "stock up," came at the expense of those who did not have the ready income to stockpile much less buy enough food for staying weeks at home.
Bene Brown in her book Daring Greatly writes,
"Scarcity is the “never enough” problem [...] Scarcity functions in a culture where everyone is hyper aware of lack. Everything from safety and love to money and resources feels restricted or lacking. We spend inordinate amounts of time calculating how much we have, want and don’t have, and how much everyone else has, needs, and wants" (2015:26).
Walter Brueggemann agrees,
"We who are now the richest nation are today's main coveters. We never feel that we have enough; we have to have more and more, and this insatiable desire destroys us." (1999:344)
In our culture we are called "consumers" because we are defined by what we have and what we buy or own. Advertisers manipulate us to buy based on the fear that we “have not.”
While the Covid-19 pandemic has exposed how much we believe in the the myth of scarcity (Brueggemann 1999), scarcity is not the normal condition of God's economy. God's economy is one of abundance.
Scripture paints a picture of abundance. In Genesis chapters one and two abundance and goodness spill off every page. In the final pages of the Bible the eternal city has enough for everyone (Revelation 21 & 22). In between the beginning and the end we see story after story of God telling his people that in God's economy there is enough and that God is enough. One example is the Manna story in Exodus 16. Commentating on that story Brueggemann (1999) notes three things:
"First, everybody had enough. But because Israel had learned to believe in scarcity in Egypt, people started to hoard the bread. When they tried to bank it, to invest it, it turned sour and rotted, because you cannot store up God's generosity. Finally, Moses said, "You know what we ought to do? We ought to do what God did in Genesis 1. We ought to have a Sabbath." Sabbath means that there's enough bread, that we don't have to hustle every day of our lives. There's no record that Pharaoh ever took a day off. People who think their lives consist of struggling to get more and more can never slow down because they won't ever have enough" (1999:344).
Let me be clear, there are real needs in this pandemic moment. For some rent has gone unpaid. We are experiencing record amounts of unemployment. Hospital supplies running short. There is real scarcity taking place, and that is not even counting they long term effects to the local, national and global economy. However, Brueggemann asks an important question, what if we “came to the realization that the real issue confronting us is whether the news of God’s abundance can be trusted in the face of the story of scarcity?” (1999:345).
An ancient middle eastern teacher once stood on a mountainside and told his followers,
Brueggeman's question, and Jesus' teaching, are key in the midst of the hoarding and scarcity we are experiencing. Covid-19 has exposed that many of us believe there is not enough, and others are experiencing lack. That revelation could lead to an increased grabbing for ourselves, or drive us to generosity toward others. But which will it be?
Each time we choose to help our neighbor secure what they need in the face of the impulse to take more for ourselves we are living into the liturgy of abundance that is God's economy. I pray as our in-person, in-church liturgies go silent that the liturgy of abundance is incarnated (made real in the flesh) in our neighborhoods, communities and world.
Joel K
D.V.
Works Cited:
Brown, B., 2015, Daring greatly: How the courage to be vulnerable transforms the way we
live, love, parent, and lead. Avery, New York.
Brueggemann, W., 1999, ‘The liturgy of abundance, the myth of scarcity’, Christian Century
116 (10), 342-34
Thank u for reminding us of this terrible problem. to add my two cents opinion, scarcity is deeply rooted in our tradition. this was poignantly pointed out by Regina Schwartz in her book the curse of cain. it seems that our faith tradition itself set up this paradigm of none-enough-for-everyone. She underscored for one the case of cain and abel, Jacob and esau, saul and david and many more where one had to be chosen over the other because there is no enough blessing, no enough love, no enough forgiveness to cover and embrace everyone. Yes, scarcity is man-made, we do that to deprive the rest while the few enjoying the abundance of the earth. And without knowing it, our faith tradition itself justifies it. I encourage brother to also have the book of Schwartz. keep safe!
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