"Abundance is the awareness that what we need is already within us and between us."

"Whatever we seem to lack, or fear we might lack in the future, is a “right idea” that is forever found in God and that we always include and reflect as God’s image."

"Community is built by focusing on gifts rather than deficiencies, on association rather than isolation, and on generosity rather than fear."

“God gives you His spiritual ideas, and in turn, they give you daily supplies. Never ask for tomorrow: it is enough that divine Love is an ever-present help; and if you wait, never doubting, you will have all you need every moment.”

— Mary Baker Eddy, Miscellaneous Writings

“God is the Being who brings into existence all things, and there is no end to His giving.”

— Ibn ʿArabī

"The idea was that when faced with abundance one should consume abundantly – an idea that has survived to become the basis of our present economy. It is neither natural nor civilized, and even from a 'practical' point of view it is to the last degree brutalizing and stupid."

"Degrowth begins as a process of taking less. But in the end it opens up whole vistas of possibility. It moves us from scarcity to abundance, from extraction to regeneration, from dominion to reciprocity, and from loneliness and separation to connection with a world that's fizzing with life."

"The divine economy is stable—a continuous flow of spiritual good—not chaotic or unpredictable."

"Supply is not outlined or limited by the figures in a bankbook or the amount of a salary. Supply is as infinite and indivisible as God Himself. We must expand our thinking. Mortal limitations are self-imposed."

"...there is another way to get the best for this world. Yet, we’d also been taught the myth that competition is an inherently good thing, because it drives us to be more strategic in using the resources we gain access to in a system that’s based on scarcity."

"A truly liberatory future is one where social movements are not permanently dependent on philanthropy to achieve their goals. An abundance vision for philanthropy should not be defined by an attempt to live forever in relationships of supplication, but rather to create the conditions where philanthropy is no longer needed because we live in a world of shared prosperity."

"Mutualism is rooted in the belief that we already have what we need when we come together."

"Abundance is seeking the beggars and the poor,
just as beauty seeks a mirror.
Beggars, then, are the mirrors of God’s abundance,
and they that are with God are united with Absolute Abundance."

— Rumi, Book I of the Masnavi

"Affluence is achieved either by producing much or desiring little.  The Zen road to affluence is in desiring little...Modern economies have created scarcity not because of insufficient production, but because of unlimited wants." 

It turns out that the greater part of what we might call the standard narrative has had to be abandoned once confronted with accumulating archeological evidence...Hunters and gathers have, in fact, never looked so good—in terms of their diet, their health, and their leisure.  Agriculturalists, on the contrary, have never looked so bad—in terms of their diet, their health, and their leisure. 

Listen to the conversation here.

Riches were never diminished by almsgiving: in truth, acts of charity are an excellent means of increasing one's wealth.

— Rumi, Mathnawi VI, 3567-73

Jesus saw that the general human belief is that everything is limited; but he knew that this was only an externalization of limited thinking. He knew that in reality nothing is limited. All is infinite, immeasurable good.

— THE DIVINE AFFLUENCE

by MARIA SOUBIER

This page will describe ABCD through five key aspects.

1. Asset Based Approach

2. Deficit Based vs Asset Based Comparison

3. Power of Associations

4. Principles for facilitating Asset Based Community Development

5. Asset Based Community Development in Practice

We are committed to supporting the capacity of citizens to produce their own financial, relational and environmental well-being. Every neighborhood has all the gifts required to raise our children, be safe, carve out a living, be healthy, care for the vulnerable and end the isolation of all, especially the elderly. The time is right for this to occur, and all that is required is to welcome the stranger and resist the loud drumbeat of certainty. A little faith doesn’t hurt either.

We must die to the self focused on scarcity so that we may enter into life trusting in God's abundance. This becomes the basis of real community: We each give what we have to one another. This fruitful life is not the same as a successful life, though. Fruitfulness is the gift that is given us as a result of our trust in God's presence. Fruitfulness is, in a way, the very opposite of success, of a life focused entirely on results and on our attempts to control the future according to our little views and our little survivals.

— Henry Nouwen, The Road To Peace