I used to get the Sierra Trading Post catalogs back when catalogs were cool and I thought I was on the way to becoming a rugged outdoorsman. This was also about the time I was hanging out a lot with Rudy, the first Episcopal priest I knew. The thing that impressed me about Rudy was that he seemed to really enjoy living. Things like eating and singing and conversing were important to him. This look to me like an honoring of the abundance of life. On the back of the Sierra Trading Post catalog, it always said “I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
Now, I’m not sure what the agenda was that drove the placement of that quotation on the catalog, but I don’t really care either. For me, getting out into the woods is a way to enjoy the abundant life. This afternoon’s run with the cold air stinging my hands and the scent of mud in my nose was a great example of the power of the abundant life of nature.
It’s hard to smell the abundant life with my head up my butt, and I do suffer from occasional bouts of cranial rectal syndrome. The only sure cure is to take account each day of what I’ve been up to and if that has contributed to an episode. It usually does not take long to detect if I have been thoughtless, self-centered, or just flat out of line. Acknowledging and rectifying (nice, huh?) the situation is not only a good moral idea, it gives me the opportunity to once again experience life, maybe even more abundantly.