(photo courtesy of Asher Yaron's bike tire patch)
I have a solution to the current economic challenges and it is based on the simple statement, "All that we need we already have." The citizens and corporations of this country have been accumulating, amassing, and hoarding stuff for generations and it is sitting, underused and under appreciated, in storage facilities everywhere. It is time to use the teaching of the story of Joseph and to tap into the stored resources in these times of famine and hardship.
How can we access this abundance of resources?
I suggest we come together in small communities and neighborhoods and create weekly gatherings that are Gift Exchanges.
Close Communities are Happy Communities
By giving our attention a local focus we can create possibilities for prosperity and success right in our own backyards. Get 10 neighbors together and have everyone list their individual gifts and you will be amazed at the depth of resources available. The human desire to give compassionately is vast and deep. Tapping that resource and multiplying and expanding it is creating a powerful movement towards abundance and prosperity.
What constitutes a Gift? A song or poem, appreciation, a motorhome, currency. A Gift should be thoughtful and authentic to the person who is giving it and it should end up with the person who will appreciate it the most!
Practically...this is how it would work.
• Once a week, preferably on a weekend, a Gift Exchange is created whereby community members gather together (at a site that is Gifted) to meet, socialize, and bring their Gifts to share. Community members are encouraged to bring their instruments to the weekly event, or to participate fully in whatever way they feel moved. The Gift Exchange is meant to be
FUN and
JOYFUL!
• At the end of the day there will most likely be an excess of Gifts that become the temporary assets of the local Gift Exchange organization. These Gifts can then be cataloged, by a volunteer, stored (at a facility that is Gifted), and listed online.
• After just a few weeks the amount of excess assets will have multiplied and community members can check locally first before making a purchase. After several months a communities' assets may have grown to the point where they can Gift to other communities in need.
No individual can fix our current problems...and certainly no politician! WE, THE PEOPLE, can create abundance and prosperity by coming together, by sharing, and by discovering that we are more united in our similarities than we are divided by our differences.
