Needs and Wants and Faith: 14 June 2009

Dear Friends,

I don’t like to watch the news these days; I do watch in an effort to keep informed of what’s happening in our country and our world, but I don’t like much of what I hear and see. My heart aches for the great many people who have been, are, and will be affected by the state of the economy in this country: the loss of employment, the foreclosures on homes, the deep cuts out of retirement investment funds, to name a few. The “real people” stories are the most distressing – how this (to put it nicely) “economic downturn” has deeply, adversely affected so many not only financially but in ways that have deteriorated or destroyed family life and relationships.

Admittedly, I have not researched any statistics probably out of fear that this “crisis” is worse than I think it is. My comments are based on what I see and hear both on the news, from others, and by observing what is happening in this corner of the world.

As a child, the end of the school year and looking forward to a whole three months of summer vacation was an absolute delight. There was no getting up early to trot off to school, no homework to get done every evening, no sitting in crowded classrooms for seven hours (with the same teacher), and the freedom of being able to stay up later at night. Last night on the National news I watched a story of a school that will be closing for good. But not only that, some of the older students of this elementary school who were interviewed commented on their sadness concerning the end of the school year. Why? Because, as one young lady put it, being able to go to school every day was an escape from the reality she lived in at home: a two-bedroom house with one bathroom housing not only her family but a total of 11 people, some of whom are relatives who have lost their jobs and their own homes. Another commented on what can be interpreted as the inevitable reality that he and his family will soon be homeless. School for many of those students provided a great sense of stability in their lives where outside of school abides chaos and instability. Schools are closing their doors, not only for the summer, but in some cases for good as educational funding from States has declined. In other places, our own surrounding area included, some education cuts have been in the form of teacher and staffing cut-backs: more people out of work.

One of the mantras I have heard from the financial “wizards” through all this economic mess is in order to boost the economy we have to spend, spend, spend. Hmm…I wonder, isn’t perhaps that same line of thinking the very thing that got us into this in the first place? Not only that, but our society’s tendency toward “bigger is better”, “more is better” consumerism fed by the “keeping up with the Joneses” trend begun decades ago has contributed greatly to society's current economic dilemma. Why would we “need” to purchase a brand new vehicle when the ones we own are in good working order? Why would we “need” to build big, fancy houses when more modest ones suit our needs nicely? What “profit” is there in having the biggest and best and newest of everything when so many in our country are, and have for a very long time been struggling to even put food on the table for their families or are homeless? Is there really justice in that???

From where I sit, in this tiny slice of the greater world, it all comes down to a skewing of needs and wants. Society has worked hard to convince us that wants are needs. And I propose the source of this line of thinking is based on greed – over time the greed of the wealthy has trickled down to so many of us in this country. I see the current state of the economy as a huge wake-up call for us to set our priorities right and rediscover the difference between what we really, truly need in order to survive and those “would be nice to have’s” that are not real needs.

The other day, as I took our dogs for a walk, I noticed a few things: the two flocks of geese that were born on our pond, thirteen little ones in all, were carefully tended to by their parents. As we approached, they were all sprawled across the road. As the “elders” caught sight of us, they carefully and systematically guided the little ones back to the pond and swam off in a group…TOGETHER. We took a detour and headed up the field that used to be a pasture. Once up the hill, the sight was absolutely beautiful. Some would call them weeds, but…the array of colorful blooms was a beautiful sight to behold. And the bobolinks were filling the air with their joyful song. It got me to thinking about the tapestry of life woven by the Sacred and how each weed, each bloom, each bird’s song was carefully and lovingly intertwined into the design of the landscape. It’s such a simple image but also a very profound one. The nature surrounding us has everything it needs, despite the varying and sometimes devastating weather conditions that come. It really wants for nothing and survives nicely, not through work of human hands and despite human interference, but by the touch of our Sacred Tender.

Can we have that same kind of faith imaged in the beauty of our natural surroundings?

Peace on the Journey.