Does it spark Joy?

I’ve only watched a couple of episodes of Marie Kondo’s decluttering show Tidying Up but her well-known phrase really stuck with me: Does it Spark joy? What a great way to live life. I’m a little bit of a hoarder myself. Or rather: I love beautiful things and I like to shop, especially for bargains. And it does spark joy in me. Even my husband says it makes him happy to see me come home from my Goodwill hunting trips all excited about my finds. It also gives me plenty of opportunity to declutter, because I always need to get rid of some things to even fit the new (or used) items in my already crammed wardrobe. It has taught me to hold on lightly to stuff. Stuff comes and goes. There’s a constant flow. In with the new, out with the old.

I like to think about money and resources in that way – like a flow. It’s like a river. You cannot hold on to it. You need to live with open hands. And God the Father is the source of that river. He’s a firm mountain that can never be shaken and from Him streams of blessings flow. Abundantly. Constantly. Neverending. Don’t hold on too tight. Actually, don’t hold on at all, if you really want to have fun. I want to live like a little fish in a river. “Where do fish keep their money? In the river bank!” (I googled that when I needed a joke for 4-year olds. They didn’t get it. It’s quite profound.)

There is a concept in Kabbalist thinking called Shefa and it means flow or abundance. Shefa is actually, on the broadest level, the flow of goodness that comes to our world from the higher planes of existence. The word abundance comes from the Latin word “abundare” overflow, run over, from Latin “ab” off, away from + “undare” rise in a wave, from “unda”, a wave. I’m picturing a river overflowing its banks. In Kabbalist thinking the whole point to creation on one level is to be the recipient of God’s goodness. What a beautiful thought and way of living. Rays of sunlight can be described as the sun’s shefa. The sun cannot stop shining. That’s what the sun does. That’s the essence of the sun’s being. It couldn’t stop shining if it wanted to. Same thing with God. He is overflow. He is goodness. He is abundance. Living in fear takes us out of the flow of shefa. It’s like opening up an umbrella on a sunny day and shielding yourself from the sun’s rays.

Does it spark Joy? Yes it does. If you want to see God’s goodness and God’s provision at work in your life, you need to open up your hands and let Him take care of you. Let Go and let God. That is, if you want adventure.