Sovah – שֹׂבַע – Full
“… you shall eat your fill of bread … “ (Leviticus 26:5)

I love food. I love to eat so much so, that quite often even though there may not be room in my stomach for more food … the taste, the sensations, the feelings that come with something tasty override that sense of being Sovah – שֹׂבַע – Full. I wonder why it is that I am wired to ignore my fullness or satiety or abundance … even though there are consequences to this choice.

The preponderance of evidence suggests that we humans are all wired this way to some extent. This wiring is not limited to food. In fact it seems that we humans are inclined to not focus upon our sense of being Sovah – שֹׂבַע – Full. Rather, we focus upon what we lack. That compulsion to give attention to what we lack has its own set of consequences … feelings of fear, distrust and vulnerability. These feelings lead us toward isolating ourselves, acting callously toward others and in some case committing acts of violence against them.

And yet there are those who seem to achieve a mastery of this internal battle between looking out at our world and seeing abundance or scarcity … and then acting accordingly. I do not believe it is something we are born with, but more of a kind of spiritual musical that we can tone and strengthen. While these muscles serve most powerfully us in life’s difficult and challenging moments, we grow them in life’s more mundane moments.  The bad news, it is a lifelong exercise.  The good news, your next opportunity for this particular exercise is happening right now.