Do you remember when “one” was enough? When razors had only one blade, a single bathroom met a family’s needs, and one, shared car got us where we needed to go? If we misplaced our eye- glasses or hair clips or pens and pencils, too bad.
Televisions entertained us with three stations. A handful of singing groups dominated radio stations, and we could name the dozen, famous movie stars by sight. Closets held very few items of clothing, and we had two pair of shoes: one for school and one for church. There were slim pickings for restaurants, and French was the only salad dressing available. Simple was the only thing we knew.
No more.
Now, it’s all about amassing. Bigger and better. Onward and upward. More and more and more and more and more.
A while back, Dave and I were invited to a couples’ home for the evening. They are fun, caring, adventurous and love the Lord. I was given a tour of their magnificent house and was astounded at the number of massive rooms devoted to “stuff.” The wife said that she never could downsize because she wouldn’t know where to start to get rid of things that mean so much to her. When her husband spoke of the dozen Christmas trees they put up each year, his wife claimed there weren’t “quite” that many.
On our way home, Dave, freshly inspired to declutter our lake cottage, commented on how we should start with our kitchen. So, while he played pickleball this morning, I tackled the cabinet that holds our water bottles. Check it out to the left. This is the stash I removed from one cabinet…just in case, I guess, the water bottle fairy comes knocking and we, having the most in the universe, win a million dollars.
Removing the unnecessary ones was easy. They were Dave’s. I placed them in the “giveaway” pile. Dave put them back and removed my “Grandma” one and my “Thanks for coming to my wedding” one and my “Apparently we’re trouble when we’re together…who knew?” one. This was not going well.
In the end, we compromised. Dave gave in, and so did I (somewhat).
Luke 12:15 tells us that Jesus spoke to his listeners, addressing how we hold on to our possessions: “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
“More is better” seems to be the mantra for our country. One more drink. One more donut. One more snort. One more lost pound. One more dollar. One more eyelift. One more trophy. One more hour on our phone. One more accolade.
Readers, take Jesus’ words to heart. It’s not about how much. In the end, maybe it’s about how little.