Daily Meditation: Sunday, May 8, 2005

Plenitude - can only be obtained by concentrating on the essential

05/08/2005

We are sometimes amazed to see the abundance and diversity of products displayed in boutiques and stores, when in fact very few things are truly essential for our lives. We wear clothes in order to protect the body, and although we may like ribbons and lace, they are not essential. To shelter ourselves, we need a house with walls, a roof and windows; pictures and carpets and knick-knacks may then add an aesthetic note, but they are secondary. To nourish ourselves as well, very few products are truly indispensable. If so many dishes exist, it is because this variety is pleasing to the taste. In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus said: ‘Give us this day our daily bread’. He didn’t say: give us butter, cheese and sausage. No, simply bread. He mentioned what is essential. We need very few things to live: bread, water, air, light, heat… In transposing these fundamental elements onto the spiritual and divine planes, we will find everything we need for an inner life of plenitude.