What does it mean to define abundance as living by soul in a spirit of love? Let me offer two analogies.
Define Abundance: The Symphony
Imagine you’ve just taken your seat at the symphony. There’s a palpable energy in the room. You know that, in just a short time, music will replace the murmurings of those gathered. But not just any music. This a interweaving of notes strung together from a wide array of instruments. Soon, they will take hold of your emotions as they captivate your heart and mind. But for that to happen, the symphony has to live by soul in a spirit of love.
Soul and Spirit at the Symphony
Soul comes into play with each individual musician. It starts with their journeys to find the instruments they most enjoy playing. But once they find they instrument, they must learn to play it masterfully.
Spirit focuses on the actual notes they play in the orchestra setting. The composer added the notes to the treble and bass clefts that sit before each musician. The conductor has a vision of what those notes when blended together are supposed to do to the audience. That vision is what we will call a spirit of love.
What happens if a couple musicians decide to reject that vision? Maybe they play in a way that puts them exclusively in the spotlight. Sure they are living by soul. After all, they are playing their chosen instrument masterfully. But they are playing in a spirit of power, one that ultimately only serves themselves. As a result, everyone suffers.
However, the musicians plays within the conductor’s vision, the symphony as a whole and the individual musicians within it are an embodiment of an abundant life.
Define Abundance: An Operating System
For those less musicial and more technical among us, I want you to think about your computer, tablet, or phone. Every device we interface with has an operating system. The operating system is code developers work with in order to write programs that operate on that device. That operating system, is the spirit of the device. Soul in this analogy is the work of developers. They create the individual programs and apps that users will ultimately install.
An abundant life here demands the developer has a clear vision of what the app is supposed to do. The code itself needs to perform in two direction. First, it needs to seamlessly integrate with the operating system for optimal performance. Second, it needs to be both functional and intuitive to the end user.
Apple put this vision of abundance on display in a series of commercials featuring Justin Long as a Mac. The series highlights the combination of performance and simplicity Apple offers. It was their vision of abundant computing.
But PC users might have another take. They could point to the limits of Mac’s walled garden approach. Sure PC might allowing more opportunity for bad software, they also give the freedom that enables far more abundance for a developer living by soul.
Ultimately, living by soul in a spirit of love celebrates your uniqueness while honoring the dignity of others. In the next episode, I will further unpack living by soul. Then I will identify two overarching spirits we can live by. Finally, I will share what it means for me to craft an abundant life from the shards of faith.
This Series
This post is part of a five-part series introducing a big picture take on faith. They are the foundation for everything brought to the crafting table by Abundance Reconstructed. Here are links to the whole series: