Good morning…
Years ago I learned of a Quaker concept called “bundle.” Over the years, God has enhanced my small seed of understanding. The main gist is that we are all born into this world wired for a unique “bundle” of people, people we are designed to spiritually influence and to be influenced by over our lifetime. Our “bundle” is marked by a mutually beneficial giving and taking, a supernatural ebbing and flowing. When together, face to face or from afar, an unmistakable, life-giving energy erupts. When we are interacting with a person in our “bundle,” God sparks deep connection, the Holy Spirit in one fans the Holy Spirit in the other, and visa versa. We know we are in the presence of a “bundle” person when spiritual conversation flows freely, the Spirit is palpable, energizing, electrifying, and the creative, regenerative abundance of God expands back and forth, in times of need and in times of plenty.
I’m not saying this in order to ease someone else’s load by overloading you, but as a matter of fair balance. Your surplus could meet their need, and their abundance may one day meet your need. This equal sharing of abundance will mean a fair balance (2 Corinthians 8:13-14, TPT). When someone is in our “bundle,” God blossoms a mysterious balance. We do not get overloaded by their sometimes heavy load, and they do not get overwhelmed by our sometimes painful circumstances. We are empowered with divine endurance to walk alongside, step by step, together with God at the pace of grace. The joy of the LORD becomes our shared strength.
We cannot be all to all people. Limited by our humanity, we simply do not have the time, the energy, or the inclination to scatter ourselves thin in all directions, all of the time, attending to all the needs in our massive world. I think that is why the LORD entrusts each one of us with one lifetime “bundle.” If a person is not in our “bundle,” we must trust that God has placed them in the “bundle” of others. When it comes to our own heaping handful, as we feed, we are fed. As we give, we receive more. As we both receive, God’s everlasting abundance overflows.
When you peacefully ponder this Quaker concept of “bundle,” who does God bring to your mind?
Counting on your own fingers, who are your mutually beneficial righthand people?
Spurred by the Spirt, feel free to forward this post to your “bundle” people, thanking them each for being an unmistakable, irreplaceable gift from God.
…Sue…
P.S. The selfie quickly snapped yesterday with my spiritual friend Kitty Crenshaw quietly captures for me the exuberant essence of “bundle.”
