Keeping the Sacred Flame

A place to discuss the religion and philosophy of the Sacred Flame, HeartShadow's personal religion. Also random other thoughts of HeartShadow's as she feels like posting them.

Monday, October 09, 2006

Scarcity

The Universe is infinite, as we understand it. However, the Earth is not, and it is on the Earth where we live. Our lives are ruled by scarcity and choosing between what we want and need. We have always been defined, as a species, by what we feel we need and do not have.

We live in a time of otherwise unknown plenty. We can afford, if we try, to feed everyone. To clothe everyone. To give out fresh water. The problem is still one of scarcity, though, as we don't have or want to invest in the distribution needed to get that food and water to the people that need it. There are costs to everything, and denying the cost or claiming it shouldn't matter denies the problem completely. Some things are worth the cost, but that doesn't mean the cost isn't there.

In our personal lives, we have scarcity. There is only so much time, so much money. We can only do so much, see so much, have so much. And we have to make choices with that scarcity. We can choose to spend that time and money selfishly, or we can share and improve life for ourselves and those around us. We can't have everything for ourselves and share. We have to choose. But when people share, the world gets better for everyone.

There will never be enough for everyone to have everything they want. But we can choose how to use what we have, and that's a very powerful choice.

Questions:
What role does scarcity play in your life? Is it meaningful?
What do you have that you don't need? Is it worth it?
Do you find it hard to share what you have? Why? What can you gain from sharing?
Personal thoughts

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