Kicking the Consumer Habit
When I was working as a
nursing supervisor I ran into a phenomenon in the drug and alcohol
detox unit that I used as a metaphor for lent last week, albeit I used
it as a bad metaphor.
But I think that it might be
a good metaphor for our stewardship lives, at least as we are on the
way toward living the life we are called to.
Admitted to the drug unit
were people of various degrees of commitment. Some had come to
realize how incredibly toxic their lives were and had come in good
faith to try and make a new start. Others were there because they had
been ordered and had no intention of getting with the program.
But a third type fascinated
me. They had no intention of changing their entire lifestyle. They
liked the feeling and the rush that drugs gave them, but it was
getting way too expensive. The longer you do many drugs, the more you
need to get the rush. So what may have begun as a $5 habit escalated
to $50 or even $100.
They came into the drug unit
to detoxify so that their habit would be affordable again. Their
lives had become unmanageable. But rather than make a whole new
start, they chose to just scale it down.
Some of us come to
stewardship late in life. Rather than being taught how to put God
first and plan our lives around first fruits, we have already
committed to big mortgages and a lifestyle that can threaten to
consume more and more money all the time.
Then we come to Jesus and
hear the words, "Sell all your possessions and give alms." But few of
us are ready to do that. In fact our lifestyles make it hard to even
hear those words through all the media ads and other voices calling us
to consume.
So maybe we can learn a
lesson from the honesty of a few drug addicts and begin to scale back
our lives and make them manageable again. Sure, the lure of
possessions is still there and it may get out of control again. Then
we will have to go through the process yet again.
In preparation for that
sermon I began cleaning out my closets and looking at ways that I
could make my life simpler and more manageable. It will free me to
have more time and more money to give. At least maybe I can begin to
imagine the possibility of hearing Jesus call to sell and give.
Lord, grant me first the
honesty to look at my life and what you have given me and how I am
using it that I may begin to hear how you would have me live. Amen
Copyright (c)
2004, The Rev. Dana Reardon. Used by permission. Email her at
mspastor@aol.com.
The Rev. Dana Reardon is pastor at St.
Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church, Warwick, RI. A lifelong Lutheran, she
came to ordained ministry after 21 years in nursing, mostly in pediatric
intensive care. She graduated from Lutheran Theological Seminary at
Philadelphia in 1998 and served 4 ½ years in Upstate New York before
becoming a New Englander. She is still trying to understand the
accent. While in the Upstate New York Synod she chaired the Stewardship
Team. That began her fascination with what makes stewards -- and more,
what makes for generosity.
She
has three amazing daughters: Pastor Reardon says much of what she knows of
life she learned from them.
