How much is too much? How much is more than we need? How much does it take to be happy?
Its been a long time since I posted anything here, but lately my mind has been going around and around on various topics, Stock Market thrill ride, Bailouts, Buying and Spending, Charity, Service, Happiness. Today some of all this jelled for me. Americans are often villified by the rest of the world for our rampant consumerism and consumption and certainly we do a lot of that. The last time I located statistics we were also the most generous and giving people in the world as well, a fact rarely seen in the media here or elsewhere in the world. So we have more and we give more, perhaps there is a connection there. Do we give because we have or do we have because we give and are thereby blessed as a result? I favor the latter.
Father Jonathan, a Catholic Priest and contributor to Fox News made mention on how the Wall Street crisis has caused some who work there to rethink their priorities. They are realizing that it's not stuff that is important or makes one happy, its people, and service. It's a lesson we all can take to heart.
One way I see for this country to re-awaken to the blessings that are ours and find where real happiness lies is to realize that stuff means very little. How many clothes are sufficient, how many pairs of shoes are really necessary, do we really need that new car, will that bigger house make us happy? I submit - they will not.
Currently I can't think of a way to accomplish what has been going on in my head, but I feel it is a way to make the pie bigger so we all have a piece of it. Our economy, or much of it is driven by our consumerism. If we all stopped buying things we don't need and that won't make us happy, we'd have some additional economic challenges to face. However, those 5 pairs of shoes I didn't buy could be shoes that went to others who did need them.
-OR-
Maybe what we need to do is continue to buy and spend because we have, but instead of buying for us we buy for others. I could send those five pairs of shoes to someplace that could use them. I could buy extra clothes, extra coats, extra school materials and see that they go where they are needed.
To a degree we do this when we donate our used, but useable goods to charity and that is still wise. Giving of our abundance with new goods could be an even greater blessing.
We give from the abundance we have because of our charity to our fellowmen. Our economy can thrive, and the world is enriched as well - the pie has become bigger. Eventually those places that our goods go to in charity will become strong economically as well, when we strive to enable self-reliance, both in us and in all the world. Crushing poverty can lead to despair, but simple lives with sufficient for our needs is a much more joyful way to live.
We do not need forced redistribution of wealth, we do not need new social programs or agencies, or more taxes; we just need the love of man in our hearts and a means of distributing that which is freely given.
