If you were only allowed to have 12 material possessions, what would they be and why?
[from Daydreaming on Paper]
one has to wonder how they came up with the number 12? oh well, here goes:
- my bible. yup, that's #1.
- a computer with internet connection (preferable to a notebook and pen).... a necesarry adjunt to the bible!
- a sleeping bag... for warmth.
- a tent... well, a roof over my head, preferably with heat.
- my asthma puffers.
- toothbrush and toothpaste. (a symbiotic duo!)- to avoid decay and thrush from the asthma puffers. and not rank out anyone i try to whisper the love of God too....
- an unscented, chemical-free bar of soap. for cleanliness that does not cause me asthma.
- a deodorant rock. to avoid stinking....out of consideration for others.
- washcloths and towels... (another symbiotic duo).
- at least one change of clothes... so no-one has to see me neked while i launder (somehow) the first change.... and least until someone needs my other change, that is!
- a pair of shoes, so my feet don't get worn out and infected from walking barefoot all the time.
- a coat.
- a hat to avoid sunburns-i'm fairly fair.
- sunglasses - my eyes are often sensitive to the light. hey, it's either that, or a bottle of tylenol for my sinus woes....
i got fairly serious about this list.... probably becuase sometimes i want to pare down to this kind of extreme... things get overwhelming and i want to go move into a tent and get away from the world. live like a bird of the air or a lily of the field... no worries about food or clothes... trusting God.
i wonder if, when having material possessions, it is possible to learn to trust God to that degree.... well, all things are possible with God. and there are probably many people who have had no material possessions to speak of that never get to that level of trust with Him.... but it makes me wonder that if a person went reaalllyy minimalistic, 'zen' so to speak, a person would be more free to walk and talk with Him.... and get to know Him and trust Him at that deeper level....
i know someone who i went and had coffee with sometimes a ways back.... he had very, very few possessions.... an apartment with it's usual appliances (f/s); a coffee maker; table and chairs; some dishes and cutlery; a broom; an old couch; and old coffee table; an old tv on an old tv stand. (didn't see his bedroom). i think he had a vacuum.
what was striking is that he didn't have any knick knacks, no magazines, books (except his bible), plants, decorations, photo albums, miscellaneous kitchen gadgets...... oddly, oddly empty. and yet.... refreshingly 'clear'... a blank slate, no chaos, nothing to get disordered.... simple.
and sometimes i long for that..... a quiet, empty environment, just me and God. no distractions, no endless mess, nothing....except God.
now, i know i need people in my life - God calls us to that. so some basic necessities for 'entertaining' would be good. and i know we're not called to monastacism or anything like that either.... i guess i can just relate to john the baptist right now - i'd rather be out in the forest eating natural found foods and trusting God for provision. and in laboring to gather berries, pick edible roots, etc, discipline my soul towards Him.....
yet i know i shouldn't *need* to leave the world to get that relationship with Him. i *should* be able to do it now. but sometimes i feel like i've had enough of the 'societal norms' that bring along ties to material things: dinner, having to do dishes; tv, and paying the phone bill; car, and the gas that needs to go in it.
just give me my cavewoman outfit, a cave, and i'll be happy.
..... or would i?
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