The psalmist asks, “How shall I repay the Lord for all the good things he has done for me?” We find the answer in the gospel: “You received without payment, give without payment..” I never read that passage without thinking of a praise song I learned at our Dioscesan Women’s Conference some time ago, “Freely, Freely” by Carol Owens. “He said, ‘Freely, freely you have received, freely, freely give. Go in my name and because you believe, others will know that I live.’ ”

That describes the economy of God’s love; it’s like a never-ending circle. God, always the great Initiator, pours out his abundant blessings on us. If and when we are open to receive God’s gifts, we have two choices. We can either try to hoard them closely to ourselves, only to find them slowly disappear from our lives, or we can share what we have been given with others and find more gifts flowing in to fill the empty spaces in our lives that our generosity has created. When we “freely, freely give,” what we have received, it keeps the circle going. God’s economy grows, expands, as it touches others with God’s grace, often in ways that we may least expect.

You may remember a movie that espoused this concept some years ago. I don’t remember the title or the stars, but the theme of the movie was: “Pay it forward.” The idea being that when, for some reason, we can’t repay someone who has saved us in our darkest hour, we are called to pass it on when we find ourselves in the position to offer help to someone who needs it, to “pay it forward.” When we do that, the circle of God’s love keeps turning, drawing ever more folks into God’s compassionate embrace. That’s how we “repay the Lord” for all his goodness and love towards us.

Furthermore, as another well-loved song puts it, “It only takes a spark to get a fire going,…That’s how it is with God’s love, once you’ve experienced it, you’ve got to pass it on.” When your heart is so full, it overflows into the world. Pass it on; then stand back and watch the circle roll on its way.