Tuesday, April 15, 2025
“Please, sir, I want some more.” This famous line from Dickens’ Oliver Twist was spoken by the novel’s title character, who asks for more gruel while dining with the master of the workhouse where he lives.
Most of us are like this. We’re holding a full bowl of riches up to the master of the workhouse asking for “more.” Essentially, what we so desperately seem to want in life is already here and now. Life itself is rich, and we as individuals have come to believe ourselves poor and lacking. What we’re grasping for is “another” full bowl? Excess upon excess?
I don’t know why the things we ask for seem missing. Because most of us are completely absorbed in form. Perhaps this is yet another angle of “Seek Ye First.” There is no seeking! It’s here, now, and always was. According to Jesus, the Kingdom of Heaven would not come with signs that could be perceived with the senses, but rather would be among people in a more subtle way. In Luke, Jesus says, “The Kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ For, in fact, the Kingdom of God is among you.” In Matthew he says, “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.”
The “added things” are second helpings of fullness for which we beg. It’s icing atop icing. Who could ask for anything more? It’s those who are asleep in spiritual understanding, or the poor in spirit. We were all once there, and those who have transcended are to be compassionate with those who are still begging for “more.” Remember what it was like begging for more? You really thought something was missing.