It is a
difficult discipline not to buy things and own things in a society that is all
about having more and more. Here are some tips I have found and some practices
I am working on. 1) Don’t go to the mall.
Casually window-shopping or even just walking through my favorite stores
does nothing but convince me that I need more.
Advertising really is pretty convincing, isn’t it? I love fashion, for example. When I go to the
mall, I see all the things I would love to have. But the cycle never breaks.
There never seems to be a point where I have enough clothes or dress well
enough. So I just avoid malls altogether. Even going to Target or going to the grocery
store can be fraught with these perils. It is essential to be very intentional when
going anywhere you spend your money (have a budget and a list in hand!). Additionally, your philosophy of money and
material possession needs to be continually flushed out. Aristotle said that
the unexamined life is not worth living.
Take some time to examine your relationship to your possessions, to money,
and set goals for yourself. It can be
anything from a simple budget to a vow of poverty, but making a conscious
decision is indispensable. 2) Make
repurposing and recycling a lifestyle.
Instead of buying new clothes, for example, I swap with friends, shop at
garage sales and thrift stores, or refashion items I already own but haven’t
worn in a while. This is a great
practice because it also teaches patience. Often, I have to wait for a while
until I can cross something off my list. Recently, I was looking for curtain. It
took a month of stopping at garage sales before I found some. My need for
instant gratification has been very challenged! 3) Find great ways to put your
money to use that does not involve buying more things. I was literally struck dumb a few weeks ago
when a couple handed me a check for several hundred dollars for groceries and
said to expect another one next month. I
told them that this was way too much money to just be handing out to people! My
friend responded that she had disciplined herself to not want things. She said,
“Why would I buy some more stuff when I can help you guys buy groceries or
support a missionary?” Well, that certainly does put things in perspective! Why
should I spend a small fortune keeping up with the latest trends when I can give micro-loans to women in the Middle East or pay to send women to school in
Afghanistan? Moreover, what if that small fortune I was spending on clothing
was contributing to lining the pockets of sweatshop owners, destroying the
environment (and again, hurting the poor), and weighing me down spiritually? This perspective makes choices much easier!
4) Find heroes, authors, and friends who inspire you to do more and reach your
full potential. Mother Teresa, Shane
Claiborne, and Gandhi are some people I continually look to for inspiration on
these issues. I also have friends who
are very serious about these issues, like my husband and many friends.
In light of all these reasons, I
decided to make up a new tradition for me, my family, and my future family to
follow. Instead of being thankful for all the things I have on one day and then
the next spending tons of money on things I was fine without the day before, I
am going to find as many things in my house to get rid of as I can. Not only
for the sake of myself but also for the sake of others. I can then donate these items or give them to
people who I know are struggling or need something. This is my new Black Friday
tradition, which is the next step up from the “buy nothing day” I usually
celebrate. This is a healthier and more appropriate way to spend the day after
Thanksgiving! It is a sad symptom of our culture when you see the news covering
the thousands of people who have been camping out for days, who trample fellow
human beings, and the usual report of injuries and even death by the end of the
day. I hope this tradition catches on. I think it would be better for everyone.
Shane Claiborne in the book Red
Letter Christians (which I highly recommend) retells the biblical story
commonly referred to as the Rich Man and Lazarus. He pointed out how the walls
and gates the rich man built to keep people like Lazarus at bay not only hurt
the poor but it also hurt the rich man. The poor man suffered from lack of
food, shelter, care, etc. but the rich man also suffered, even though he does
not realize it until the end of the story.
The walls he built kept him away from the people he needed to be in
community with in order to be in true communion with God. Having too many
possession and holding on to them too tightly ruined his life. In fact, in the
story he asks if Lazarus can go and warn his brother about their lifestyle and
that it needs to be changed because it is keeping them from God and from
others. Possessions and the love of
those possessions are what broke the two greatest commandments: love God and
love your neighbor. I know that few
people would identify themselves with the rich man in this story. One of the jarring parts of the story,
however, is that the rich man himself was shocked at these accusations. He
believed he was following God’s commands. How many of us are actually the rich
man in this story? Probably more of us than would care to admit.
I will
leave off with this final paragraph from Red Letter Revolution: “In John
10: 10, Jesus says he has come to give us life to the fullest, not guilt to the
fullest. So I’m interested in that life— and so are a
lot of other folks— because we often settle for something far short of life to
the fullest. We opt for survival, security, and comfort rather than the cross
and suffering love of Jesus. We choose the American dream instead of the gospel
dream. But the freest people I know are the folks who have learned to live like
the lilies and the sparrows. Once a reporter said to Mother Teresa that he
couldn’t do what she did if he was paid a million dollars. She answered, “Yes,
for a million dollars I wouldn’t do it either.” I think Jesus is showing us
that there is a pearl, a prize, worth leaving everything for. So it’s not about
what you’ve left, but it’s about what you’ve found.”
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