simplicity & materialism.
i've been considering these topics, juxtaposed with one another, for some time now, preparing for leading a discussion on these topics for our home group. it's interesting to see the synonyms for simplicity:
many of those aren't what i'd consider positive qualities. i doubt i'd appreciate being called artless or guileless or monotonous or naive or plain. but when i think of simplicity, i think of freshness, of a crisp cleanness. maybe it's because i associate my childhood with my more simplisitic nature. it's no secret that we become so much more convoluted & complex as we age. experience has a way of guiding your future experiences.
sometimes i wish i was five years old again, where the most complex thing i had to consider was how to tie my shoes or what game to play. but then i recall that at age five i had experienced very little in my short life. i wouldn't trade my experiences now to be back at that age.
in this case, we are examining simplicity as it pertains to materialism. some may put these two concepts into an objective category, but i'd place them in the subjective category. my simplicity is not your simplicity; my materialism is not your materialism. all of our thoughts on these matters are formed & swayed by our own experiences. at the same time, i think it is clear that our desires should not be so focused on a particular object or person that we simply forego our dependence on Christ. if our materialistic desires (yes, even those that many want to term as "not materialistic .... that $15 CD, that $3 latte we purchase every morning) are becoming our God, that's the bigger issue then whether it was a penchant for collecting artful web addresses or collecting million dollar cars.
materialism's roots are more in what rules your life than the actual objects which become the focus. if having a ferrari is your life goal & you are willing to sacrifice anything & everybody in your life to obtain that goal, chances are you are so sucked into what you see that material object providing to you that you simply miss other blessings placed in your path.
i consider "materialism" to be a word that is thrown around so often that people make unprecedented accustations at times, simply based on what a person owns. hence, the subjective nature of the materialism & simplicity beast. the US is one of the richest countries, if not the richest, in the world & considered to be the most materialistic by many. i can't fault that perception. we are some selfish people in our daily life, we are gaining independence from one another despite being created for relationship with our fellow earth-dwellers. we are replacing people with objects, whether it be a one-time purchase of a computer or a drive to purchase the latest vehicle upon release to the public.
add judgmental to that assessment & we have a nation of spoiled people who judge one another for (1) their material possessions &/or (2) how they choose to spend their money on material things.
i'm still muddling through some of these things in my head but welcome comments from the peanut gallery. thoughts?
i've been considering these topics, juxtaposed with one another, for some time now, preparing for leading a discussion on these topics for our home group. it's interesting to see the synonyms for simplicity:
artlessness, candor, chastity, clarity, classicality, clean lines, clearness, directness, ease, easiness, elementariness, guilelessness, homogeneity, ingenuousness, innocence, integrity, modesty, monotony, naivety, naturalness, naïveté, obviousness, openness, plainness, primitiveness, purity, restraint, severity, singleness, straightforwardness, uniformity, unity
many of those aren't what i'd consider positive qualities. i doubt i'd appreciate being called artless or guileless or monotonous or naive or plain. but when i think of simplicity, i think of freshness, of a crisp cleanness. maybe it's because i associate my childhood with my more simplisitic nature. it's no secret that we become so much more convoluted & complex as we age. experience has a way of guiding your future experiences.
sometimes i wish i was five years old again, where the most complex thing i had to consider was how to tie my shoes or what game to play. but then i recall that at age five i had experienced very little in my short life. i wouldn't trade my experiences now to be back at that age.
in this case, we are examining simplicity as it pertains to materialism. some may put these two concepts into an objective category, but i'd place them in the subjective category. my simplicity is not your simplicity; my materialism is not your materialism. all of our thoughts on these matters are formed & swayed by our own experiences. at the same time, i think it is clear that our desires should not be so focused on a particular object or person that we simply forego our dependence on Christ. if our materialistic desires (yes, even those that many want to term as "not materialistic .... that $15 CD, that $3 latte we purchase every morning) are becoming our God, that's the bigger issue then whether it was a penchant for collecting artful web addresses or collecting million dollar cars.
materialism's roots are more in what rules your life than the actual objects which become the focus. if having a ferrari is your life goal & you are willing to sacrifice anything & everybody in your life to obtain that goal, chances are you are so sucked into what you see that material object providing to you that you simply miss other blessings placed in your path.
i consider "materialism" to be a word that is thrown around so often that people make unprecedented accustations at times, simply based on what a person owns. hence, the subjective nature of the materialism & simplicity beast. the US is one of the richest countries, if not the richest, in the world & considered to be the most materialistic by many. i can't fault that perception. we are some selfish people in our daily life, we are gaining independence from one another despite being created for relationship with our fellow earth-dwellers. we are replacing people with objects, whether it be a one-time purchase of a computer or a drive to purchase the latest vehicle upon release to the public.
add judgmental to that assessment & we have a nation of spoiled people who judge one another for (1) their material possessions &/or (2) how they choose to spend their money on material things.
i'm still muddling through some of these things in my head but welcome comments from the peanut gallery. thoughts?
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on 10 February 2005 at 2/10/2005 10:52:00 AM.
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