Wealth Overload:

I just recently cleaned out my closet full of clothes galore. And then many months prior I had had yard sale. So the bug to clean up, sweep out, and be rid of clutter that has found its way into our abode, is prevalent once more in my bones.

First off, there is one area I struggle with going to. I find myself being sickened when I walk through a grocery store, with the gazillion brands of the same products, aisle upon aisle, expiration dates soon to be noted, There is just something about all that food, the gross amount of choice we have at our disposal and thinking that the local jesus center should be getting their goods there for free on a weekly basis. But unfortunately, they are dependent on donations by these kinds of businesses. So whenever the business has an overstock of an item(s) or just about outdated product, they give it to the Jesus Center, the Salvation Army and the like. I know, I have worked for the Salvation Army and I know what businesses give and what they do not give. Sure, when Christmas rolls around, they are more generous, but not much more. Salvation Army still has to pay for many of the turkeys that the businesses are 'donating'. Give me a break! I know Salvation Army is thankful for what donations they can get, particularly in a small town where they are having to compete with all of the holiday good will and requests from non-profits, groups, etc.

But by golly, for the Jesus Center or Salvation Army to have to literally beg, albeit nicely, for donations is a crime. They are serving a purpose in feeding those who others would never invite to their home or hand them a few dollar bills or buy them a meal at nice a restaurant. They are contributing to the human condition of making it more tolerable, more purposeful for these folks who find themselves in conditions they probably never imagined being in.

So, to walk the aisles of any grocery store just burns the core of me. I just want to take a U-Haul and drive it into the buildings and take all that a 48 foot truck could hold of goods and necessities.

It's not only the grocery stores, but it's the clothing stores, the mall, the restaurants, the whole damn societal view of getting, and then giving it away after we're done with it. How repulsive this habitual activity really is.

I am guilty of this monstrosity and am working on changing these ways so that the finger isn't being pointed at myself for the soapbox I am shouting from, and yet not doing a damn thing with my words.

The need to live more simply is a great goal, but it is still in the works of being fully realized. Granted it is difficult to part with your good dishes when you have a set of twenty year old Corell that you'd rather give away or sell. I am trying to work on the mindset that if I can't take anything with me when I'm dead, what purpose is all of this material good if only to buy new when the old gets useless for one's taste. But usefulness is one man's gain and another man's junk. I realize this but I no longer desire to live like this any more. Particularly this next stage of my life. I want to truly simplify and enjoy what I do have, and yet not give into the wild and gross consumerism of our society any longer.

I struggle with knowing I have an abundance, perhaps I am deserving of it and perhaps not, but regardless there are those out there who have real needs that can be met if only a greater number of us in every city, township, district, state we're willing to give all we can and have so others don't have to go without.

I need to continue to work in this area of my life. Some times I have found myself walking that fine line between having what I desire versus having things for the sake of having it.

Like I mentioned, I am a hypocrite in this area and still need to work on this particular area. I could use prayer in this area.

Shalom,

Kim

We all have only one life to help make a difference

••A CHILD DIES EVERY 3 SECONDS FROM POVERTY••
http://www.one.org/

However, if all you can simply do, because you're frozen with the monstrosity of our global conditions, Prayer is always appreciated and will reach the masses. Thank you for this simple act, if nothing else.

Shalom,
Kim

Quote: dorothy sayers

"I believe it to be a great mistake to present Christianity as something charming and popular with no offense in it.... We cannot blink at the fact that gentle Jesus meek and mild was so stiff in his opinions and so inflammatory in his language that he was thrown out of church, stoned, hunted from place to place, and finally gibbeted as a firebrand and a public danger. Whatever his peace was, it was not the peace of an amiable indifference."