the burden of stuff

St Ambrose talks to us about what's most important today in A Year with the Church Fathers. He says several things about priorities and how to judge one thing against another. But one thing he makes clear - gathering more and more "things" is not part of the life of a Christian.

That's a very countercultural concept in our commercialized, commodity-driven, consumer-mentality western world today. Businesses don't even refer to us as people. We're "consumers". We consume. They produce more and more so that we can consume it.

To go against this driving force of our society, it takes a certain amount of detachment and will power. We have to make a choice not to just be consumers, but to return to being people again. To lay aside our role of "buyer" and let the newest, shiniest gadgets slide by on the eternal conveyor belt of mass production. It's not just Christianity that tells us to do this. One would be hard pressed to find a religious that does NOT emphasize the importance of simplicity. Of limiting the influence of "possessions" in our lives, so that they don't end up possessing us. Even Fight Club taught this lesson.

So does that mean we shouldn't own a smartphone? We shouldn't watch TV? We shouldn't buy a car? Well, I think it depends on what we're using them for. If we use our car and our TV and our phone to fill up every second of our day with distractions, then we should probably reevaluate. Silence is a good thing. God speaks to us in a still, small voice, and that voice is easily drowned out by the plethora of devices that fill up our lives.

One good idea I've read about is a matter of simplicity and charity. Let's say you want to buy a new phone because your old one is broken. Find the nicest phone you can afford. And then buy the one just below that in value, and give the difference to the poor. See how that works?

In any case, all of us need to take steps toward simplicity in our lives. We're weighted down with so much STUFF. We don't need half of it. Many of us don't need 75% of what we own. What steps can you take this week, the week of thanksgiving, to move toward simplicity, and give away some things that will make other people's lives better, and our lives a little less cluttered?

God, thank You for speaking to us in a still, small voice. Please help us declutter so we can listen.