In the world of accounting, net is a reduction word. Something “net” has been reduced by the combination of positive and negative amounts of somethings.

A client of mine recently used the “net” term in another way. He referred to his employees as either net-giving or net-taking. He observes that most people fit into one or the other category. Either they offer themselves or they consume. They characteristically give or they characteristically take. The terms captured my interest and I want to explore the idea of net-living.

To start, I want to establish a few presuppositions.

1.      We are made each uniquely, having a design to be offered in our specific life context. This is the offering, our offering.

2.      Then, since we each have unique gifts to offer, others will often have differing gifts to offer. This presents an opportunity to consume the unique gifts others have to offer.

3.      Finally, our interactions with one another consist of the back-and-forth exchange between or among us of the offering of our gifts and the consumption of the gifts of others, as they also offer their gifts and consume ours.

I am calling this back and forth exchange net-living. Living reduced to combining the difference between giving and taking.