Live and learn

I heard the sermon on Sunday. And afterwards, I thought to myself that he was right. Poverty cannot be solved just by shoving material goods at people. The definition of poverty is not a lack of stuff, but a lack of a Savior. That good deeds without the Word is not effective. We must also tell people about King Jesus, not just offer them stuff. I was inspired! For about ten minutes. Then I said to Kevin, "I really want to have matching plates for Thanksgiving. Right now I have 5 blue plates and 4 white plates. Plus, they're ugly and chipped. I would like to get some new plates." My smart husband reminded me of the sermon we had just heard, and I cringed. How is it, that I can learn something, just to loose the lesson five minutes later?

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14

Americans have stuff

Addressing consumerism and stewardship from yet another angle:

The other day I heard on the radio that consumption has declined a bit in our country recently. The voice (I have no idea what station this was) lamented that if the trend continues, our economy will likely slide into a recession. It seemed to me the obvious message was that we need to consume more; does anyone else have a problem with that? I hope so...

The next day, as the voice still echoed in my head, I came upon this website entitled "The Story of Stuff;" it includes a 20-minute video presentation about resources and the economy (in lay terms, with classy illustrations), as well as information regarding things that every good Portlander loves, like sustainability and NGOs, with lots of references (books and websites).

I've only made a cursory exploration of the site myself, so I'm not endorsing it with blood or anything, but at the very least it can help us think more intentionally about processes we easily take for granted.