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Ministry of Peace Psalm 23:1-3

“I lack nothing.” Simplicity is the key to finding happiness in less. I recently watched the documentary Happy directed by Roko Belic. In it, they look at happiness around the world and ask questions like, does more stuff make people more happy? Turns out, a man in the slums of India who lives in a shack with no running water can be happier than the average American.

Yet, Americans account for less than 5% of the world’s population and over 33% of global consumption. It would take three Earths to feed the world’s population at the rate at which Americans eat.

Is it any wonder why there’s conflict in the world when there’s such disparity?

In other translations of Psalm 23, “I lack nothing,” reads, “I shall not want.” Perhaps that’s a better word for us in the affluent western world. Could there be a correlation between wanting less and greater peace? Sounds like the kind of holy experiment Jesus would be interested in supporting.

By Tim Moore from D365

UMC

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