Do We Ever Have "Enough"?
Be assured that I am not judging here...after all, I recall over and over again the scripture which admonishes us to cast out the log in our own eye before worrying about the speck in another's eye. But even as I am for the most part enjoying and appreciating this holiday season, I have become aware of a modern phenomenon which both puzzles and saddens me, causing me to question many things about our society.
In my new neighborhood is being constructed yet another storage facility...a huge one, which will accommodate the "stuff" of many, many people. And this is just one of the considerable number of such facilities which have sprung into being in the last few years. Obviously, there is the "need" for them, else they would not continue to be built...which leads me to wonder "why?" Are we truly a people of so many possessions that we need these places in which to house the countless things which do not fit into the living spaces we occupy? Do we have so much that our homes and apartments are simply overflowing with the excess, and so we are willing to pay for places in which to store what we really do not need in our daily lives but with which we are unwilling or unable to part?
Certainly, there are times when such storage is necessary, and a dependable and accessible place is a real boon: times of transit; times when death comes suddenly and unexpectedly and possessions left behind must gradually be sorted and disposed. But somehow, I suspect that these examples pale in comparison to the need to simply store our stuff...our overage...our excess. And as I look around our area, I see the homeless, the refugees...people in need of places to live and furniture to fill them...people living from paycheck to paycheck and getting by with the bare minimum of comforts in the places they inhabit. Couldn't these people, I can't help but wonder, benefit greatly by some of the "stuff" filling countless storage facilities all around our area?
Having just completed a move from a house to an apartment, I am woefully aware of just how much detritus I had accumulated over a period of nearly eighteen years in one place. And I had believed I was continually down-sizing! After a big yard sale and countless trips to Goodwill (I think they came to know me by sight) and giving things to my granddaughter for her new apartment, I still have plenty...enough and more than enough. I am determined NOT to accumulate any more and to be content with what I have. And, yes, I am one of those people who give money to people standing on street corners with signs asking for help, because I continually ask myself if I would be willing to stand hour after hour in all kinds of weather begging, if I were not in dire need. But I still have more than one coat...and far more than one pair of shoes...and there are still sisters and brothers in need in my town.
So you see, I'm not letting myself off the hook or patting myself on the back for my occasional acts of charity. I am looking around me at the world of which I am a small part and asking how we got to where we are now...people with so very much that we don't know what to do with it, and so we pay to put it somewhere on the off chance that we may need it in the future...or our kids will...or something...
And while I'm on my soapbox, another awareness has developed. In virtually every little strip mall or group of shops there is a nail salon or a fitness center or a speciality hair salon or day spa...places which barely existed until this century but which seem to attest to our driving need to look good. Oh, I know...physical fitness keeps us healthy, right? But walking and doing some physical labor accomplishes the same thing, as does eating less sugar and salt and more veggies and fruits. Apparently we are willing to pay huge amounts of money to have someone make us and keep us "looking good", something which was once done at home, in front of the bathroom mirror, by our own two hands.
Now, I realize I may be tilting at someone's sacred cows...perhaps your own. And I like looking good- though I must confess that aging has made me far more contented with sacrificing style for comfort. But the part which hurts my heart is considering the amount of money being spent daily, weekly, for these "creature comforts", these services which we believe enhance our lives. I have no idea of the actual dollar amounts but I suspect that our urban ministry and homeless shelters would be assisted mightily by the amount spent each month in our drive to enhance our appearance, often just to be admired by others rather than satisfy ourselves.
Yes, I am very aware that all of these places provide jobs, though I'm not sure what the going pay rate actually is for those providing the services. And I have no real solution to the issues I'm raising. I just find myself overcome with awareness and doubt...and felt I had to speak out. Believe me, even as I write this, I have been looking deep into the mirror of my own soul to be honest about where the wasteful excesses of my own life reside. And so, at this holy and mostly-joyful time of the year, as we stand on the brink of both a new year and a new decade, I invite you to look with me- and to see, really see, the truth which surrounds and fills us...the call to love of neighbor and to the sense of having and being "enough" today and every day. Happy holidays and the blessings of a New Year of living be yours.
In my new neighborhood is being constructed yet another storage facility...a huge one, which will accommodate the "stuff" of many, many people. And this is just one of the considerable number of such facilities which have sprung into being in the last few years. Obviously, there is the "need" for them, else they would not continue to be built...which leads me to wonder "why?" Are we truly a people of so many possessions that we need these places in which to house the countless things which do not fit into the living spaces we occupy? Do we have so much that our homes and apartments are simply overflowing with the excess, and so we are willing to pay for places in which to store what we really do not need in our daily lives but with which we are unwilling or unable to part?
Certainly, there are times when such storage is necessary, and a dependable and accessible place is a real boon: times of transit; times when death comes suddenly and unexpectedly and possessions left behind must gradually be sorted and disposed. But somehow, I suspect that these examples pale in comparison to the need to simply store our stuff...our overage...our excess. And as I look around our area, I see the homeless, the refugees...people in need of places to live and furniture to fill them...people living from paycheck to paycheck and getting by with the bare minimum of comforts in the places they inhabit. Couldn't these people, I can't help but wonder, benefit greatly by some of the "stuff" filling countless storage facilities all around our area?
Having just completed a move from a house to an apartment, I am woefully aware of just how much detritus I had accumulated over a period of nearly eighteen years in one place. And I had believed I was continually down-sizing! After a big yard sale and countless trips to Goodwill (I think they came to know me by sight) and giving things to my granddaughter for her new apartment, I still have plenty...enough and more than enough. I am determined NOT to accumulate any more and to be content with what I have. And, yes, I am one of those people who give money to people standing on street corners with signs asking for help, because I continually ask myself if I would be willing to stand hour after hour in all kinds of weather begging, if I were not in dire need. But I still have more than one coat...and far more than one pair of shoes...and there are still sisters and brothers in need in my town.
So you see, I'm not letting myself off the hook or patting myself on the back for my occasional acts of charity. I am looking around me at the world of which I am a small part and asking how we got to where we are now...people with so very much that we don't know what to do with it, and so we pay to put it somewhere on the off chance that we may need it in the future...or our kids will...or something...
And while I'm on my soapbox, another awareness has developed. In virtually every little strip mall or group of shops there is a nail salon or a fitness center or a speciality hair salon or day spa...places which barely existed until this century but which seem to attest to our driving need to look good. Oh, I know...physical fitness keeps us healthy, right? But walking and doing some physical labor accomplishes the same thing, as does eating less sugar and salt and more veggies and fruits. Apparently we are willing to pay huge amounts of money to have someone make us and keep us "looking good", something which was once done at home, in front of the bathroom mirror, by our own two hands.
Now, I realize I may be tilting at someone's sacred cows...perhaps your own. And I like looking good- though I must confess that aging has made me far more contented with sacrificing style for comfort. But the part which hurts my heart is considering the amount of money being spent daily, weekly, for these "creature comforts", these services which we believe enhance our lives. I have no idea of the actual dollar amounts but I suspect that our urban ministry and homeless shelters would be assisted mightily by the amount spent each month in our drive to enhance our appearance, often just to be admired by others rather than satisfy ourselves.
Yes, I am very aware that all of these places provide jobs, though I'm not sure what the going pay rate actually is for those providing the services. And I have no real solution to the issues I'm raising. I just find myself overcome with awareness and doubt...and felt I had to speak out. Believe me, even as I write this, I have been looking deep into the mirror of my own soul to be honest about where the wasteful excesses of my own life reside. And so, at this holy and mostly-joyful time of the year, as we stand on the brink of both a new year and a new decade, I invite you to look with me- and to see, really see, the truth which surrounds and fills us...the call to love of neighbor and to the sense of having and being "enough" today and every day. Happy holidays and the blessings of a New Year of living be yours.
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