Franciscan spirituality is characterized by a dependence on God, humility, poverty, and simplicity. In a time of insecurity, how can we cultivate the faith that God will provide?
After nearly two years of unemployment, I deleted the email solicitation from a charity to which I had given in the past. Unlike the widow who gave from her need rather than from her excess (Lk 21:1–4), I lacked the faith and courage to do the same.
A few days later, I was embarrassed to receive a second request from the organization. Suddenly, I felt compelled to consider more deeply the questions that had recently been plaguing me: How much is enough? Am I falsely claiming that my excess is my need? How much do I truly need for myself? In a time of persistent insecurity, how can I cultivate the faith that God will provide?
What, Me Worry?
Jesus offers his followers the following teachings in the Gospel of Matthew: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth” and “Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself.” In the Divine Office of St. Francis, St. Francis similarly urges his brothers to free themselves of anxiety: “Thus would the heart that’s free of cares / Not for tomorrow then provide / With money strapped in purses.” Both Jesus and St. Francis grasped that anxiously stockpiling worldly goods for tomorrow diverts our attention from the blessings of today.
Yet people do store up treasures and do worry about tomorrow, gathering more than they need today lest they find themselves wanting tomorrow. Not recognizing that security is a temptation and having little, if any, faith that God will provide, people push themselves to accumulate more and more, leaving little room in their lives for God to act. How much is enough? How much more will it take to be sated?
We may not be able to free ourselves from worry as completely as St. Francis did; however, we can challenge ourselves to be satisfied with what we have today and to be confident that God will see us through tomorrow. To that end, God’s instructions for gathering manna, as described in Exodus 16, and the faith in God’s providence espoused by St. Francis of Assisi suggest a “theology of sufficiency” that may encourage laypeople to be satisfied with their “daily bread” without worrying about tomorrow.
The Bread of Angels
Rather than thank God for leading them out of Egypt, the Israelites complained that they were going to starve to death in the wilderness. In response to their grumbling, God supplied them with manna from heaven. In the Book of Exodus, manna is described as “fine flakes” left after the dew evaporated; they “became wormy and stank” if left until the next morning and melted in the sun. Manna is said to be “like coriander seed, white, and it tasted like wafers made with honey.” The Israelites lived on manna for 40 years, the entire time they were in the wilderness, until they entered Canaan.
Through Moses, God dictated specific instructions for how the manna was to be gathered. The people were to go out each day and gather their “daily portion.” Each person was to gather “as much of it as each needs to eat.” On the sixth day, the people were to gather “twice as much as they gather on the other days.” Then they would rest on the seventh day. God intended these instructions to be a test for the Israelites. Would they pass the test?
Contrary to God’s instructions, some people took more manna than they needed for the day. However, when the manna they had collected was measured, everyone had what they needed.
Contrary to God’s instructions, some people tried saving leftover manna for the next morning, but, as mentioned previously, “it became wormy and stank.” Contrary to God’s instructions, some people went out to gather manna on the seventh day, a day of rest, but “they did not find any.” Not trusting in God’s promise to provide them with their daily manna and not heeding God’s commandment to keep the Sabbath, these Israelites failed God’s test.
Despite their sins, God did not forsake the Israelites. For those 40 years, they “ate the bread of the angels; food [the Lord] sent in abundance” (Ps 78:25). The Israelites had to learn to trust that God would provide tomorrow just as God had provided today. Would we pass the test of gathering just how much we need for today and not one speck of manna more?
‘This Is What I Want’
As the story goes, St. Francis of Assisi heard the Gospel in which Jesus Christ commissions the Twelve Apostles and sends them on their way with these instructions: “Do not take gold or silver or copper for your belts; no sack for the journey, or a second tunic, or sandals, or walking stick” (Mt 10:9–10a). In The Major Legend of St. Francis, St. Bonaventure recounts what happened next: “Hearing, understanding, and committing this to memory, this friend of apostolic poverty was then overwhelmed with an indescribable joy.” St. Francis exclaims, “This is what I want, this is what I desire with all my heart!” and at once divests himself of his shoes, wallet, money, and leather belt. Conforming himself to “the rule of right living given to the apostles,” in the words of St. Bonaventure, becomes his to do.
Franciscan spirituality is characterized in part by radical dependence on God, humility, voluntary poverty, and simplicity of lifestyle. It captures the spirit and charism of St. Francis, who did not need any more than he could carry. He had complete faith that God would provide everything he truly needed. Whatever he had at the moment, it was enough. This theology of sufficiency, this belief in the providence of God, freed the heart of St. Francis from the sin of coveting and enabled him to find joy in the smallest of pleasures.
Compulsively gathering more than we need for a rainy day can be a difficult habit to break. We can begin by adopting a practice of intentional accumulation and consumption, which may lead to a simplicity of lifestyle in the spirit of St. Francis. The instructions that the Israelites followed to gather manna, which are based on a theology of sufficiency, align well with the tenets of Franciscan spirituality.
Tootsie Pops, Toothpaste, and Toilet Paper
As a Secular Franciscan, I strive to follow the Gospel in the manner of St. Francis and to live by the Rule of the Secular Franciscan Order. Article 11 of the Rule states in part: “Let the Secular Franciscans seek a proper spirit of detachment from temporal goods by simplifying their own material needs.” Inspired by the words of Article 11 and eager to live by a theology of sufficiency, I “desire with all my heart,” as St. Francis would say, to have the courage to fully depend on God’s providence. I say “courage” because putting oneself into God’s hands does require overcoming fear: fear of relinquishing control, however illusory, of one’s life and possessions. Fear of missing out on what worldly life has to offer. Fear that such countercultural faith may be misplaced.
By believing that what I have by the grace of God is and will always be sufficient, I can view through a different lens verses from Scripture such as: “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly” (Jn 10:10b) and “Moreover, God is able to make every grace abundant for you, so that in all things, always having all you need, you may have an abundance for every good work” (2 Cor 9:8).
The manna story helps me to understand that anything I have in abundance, anything that is more than enough, belongs to those still in need. As St. John the Baptist proclaims: “Whoever has two tunics should share them with the person who has none. And whoever has food should do likewise” (Lk 3:11b).
Despite my lofty aspirations, I have struggled with being satisfied with enough—and I have envied those who have more than enough. Imagine if God provided manna only to the Israelites who got there first! About 50 years ago, I attended a meeting of CCD students and parents in a church auditorium. I noticed several tables had plates loaded with Tootsie Pops. I couldn’t wait for the meeting to end so that I could get one! Once it finally did, the other children and I rushed the tables. Those who arrived there first walked away with fistfuls of the prized lollipops. When I finally reached the tables, there were no Tootsie Pops in sight. After all these years, my disappointment at not scoring a Tootsie Pop is still fresh in my memory. I was inconsolable during the car ride home.
During the pandemic, I once again experienced the fear of missing out. While I could not understand the connection between the coronavirus and toilet paper, I saw other people panic buying, and I became anxious. I was determined this time not to return home empty-handed. Giving no thought that God would somehow provide me with toilet paper when I really needed it, I began to purchase multi-roll packages whenever I went shopping. When I noticed toothpaste shortages in the stores, I started to stockpile tubes of it, giving no thought of other people who also needed to clean their teeth. I gathered much more toilet paper and toothpaste than I needed, and I kept the excess for myself.
Reminding myself that security is not to be found in toilet paper or toothpaste, today I am much more mindful of my purchasing and consumption habits. Particularly during this time of unemployment, when it is uncertain where my next dollar will come from, I conscientiously purchase at the supermarket just what I need for the week. I have faith that if I run out of toilet paper or toothpaste this week (unlikely, since I am still working off those pandemic supplies), those items will still be available on the supermarket shelves next week. Paradoxically, when I was hoarding toilet paper and toothpaste, I had too much, yet not enough. Now I have just enough.
Mindful Consumption and Trust in God
The Israelites eventually learned to be content with their daily manna and to have faith that God would provide more the next morning. Likewise, we have learned from Jesus to pray for our daily bread. By cultivating a theology of sufficiency, we learn to recognize when enough is enough. By living without the promise of an assured future, we give up the control that we think we have and hand our worries to God, trusting that God will provide us with all that we need.
This is a worthy practice for the haves and the have-nots. People who seek to practice mindful consumption—people for whom purchasing and consuming less is a choice, not a necessity—may be motivated by the freedom from “keeping up with the Joneses” and inspired to share their excess manna, so to speak, with those who haven’t been able to gather as much. People of limited means who seek to establish trust in God’s providence may be comforted by the manna story and encouraged to develop an attitude of gratitude for how they already benefit from such providence.
Yet fully committing to this way of living continues to be difficult for me. I spent much of my career administering retirement benefit plans designed to help employees prepare for a financially secure postretirement life. My fellow plan participants and I learned that we needed to save not only to retirement but through retirement. Rather than practice radical dependence on God, we put our faith entirely in what we could save for ourselves, perhaps with a little help from our employer.
It’s countercultural not to worry whether we have accumulated enough for tomorrow. However, an undue focus on what we may need tomorrow can get in the way of appreciating the gifts that God has provided us today.
In Luke’s Gospel, the man who considered tearing down his barns and building larger ones in which to store his harvest would soon learn that tomorrow is not guaranteed. In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus tells us not to worry about what we will eat, drink, or wear. He encourages us to depend on God’s abundant generosity rather than on our own puny efforts.
In Abundance and in Need
The test of the manna was a test of trust. Although the Israelites failed the test more than once, God did not withhold the manna from them. In the wilderness, God saw to it that the Israelites who had gathered too much manna and those who had gathered too little both ended up with as much as each needed to eat. By embracing a theology of sufficiency, we can help to bridge the disparity between the haves and the have-nots, thus leading to increased well-being for our entire community.
In his letter to the Philippians, St. Paul writes: “In every circumstance and in all things, I have learned the secret of being well fed and of going hungry, of living in abundance and of being in need.” So it was also with St. Francis. After he renounced his father’s wealth, St. Francis was no longer financially secure—nor was he a slave to money. Instead, he followed the Gospel unencumbered by worry about the future, turned to God to fulfill his needs, and found perfect joy despite his circumstances.
By releasing our anxieties about whether we will have enough for tomorrow and believing that God will provide just what we need when we need it, we may find through living simply that we no longer need as much. Living in precarity with faith in God’s providence may lead to this startling conclusion: I am rich because my needs are few. Enough will be enough.
I am not there yet. I still fear that my involuntary unemployment will turn into involuntary early retirement. Yet in thanks to God for providing for my needs today, I did make a donation to the charitable organization after its second request. May we heed God’s instructions for gathering manna, as they apply to us, and have the faith that God will provide the bread that we need today—and tomorrow.
What can you do today to demonstrate your assurance that you have all you need today and your faith that God will take care of you tomorrow?
1 thought on “How Much Is Enough? ”
Excellent article and story. We have a similar situation at work: Our store secretary has a candy dish on her desk for employees. It is interesting to see how many people take a handful and how many just take one or two.What we have does not make us happy, it is how we use and enjoy it and share it that does.
My husband and I are in a place where we will soon have to make decisions for the rest of our future: Where will we live, how will we clean out all the “stuff’ we do not need before we move there? This article/story helped me in my thinking and praying. When it’s time we will know and God will provide. Thank you!