Being Content

I have been thinking a lot over the last year about what a consumer society we are.  We even consume church, rather than BEING the church.  With the economy the way it is I've been thinking a lot about being content, how our security is not in this world, and therefore our call as Christians to react differently in this time when everybody is reacting to the economy.  I've run into a couple things in the last week that speak to that, which I'd like to share with you.  One is short and the other a little longer.

 

I read a few quotes from Dr. Sue Gallagher that I thought were profound.

 

“When the economy is shaky we tend to cut back our giving. This year is a great chance to put our money where our faith is by encouraging faithful giving… Remember, if we always do what we’ve always done, we will simply get what we’ve always gotten.”

 

“Here is our chance (as Christians) to begin a wave of generosity in the midst of those who would have us sit tight. This is a really good chance to step outside ourselves and invest in something that matters at a time that really matters.”

 

My step father recently wrote a book about his life. One part that really had Angie and me in awe was when he was talking about his childhood living conditions and how happy he was, despite what we would consider a meager, even rough existence. We who know Christ have even more cause to be content and joyful with very little because this world is not our home. Here is a segment from My Life by Daniel Ramey. 

 

“We had no indoor plumbing in our house. We had to get our water from a pump out near our back porch. When we wanted to take a bath, we would bring a galvanized wash tub into the house and heat water on the kitchen stove.”

 

“We made do with Kerosene lamps in my earlier years. Can you just imagine not having electricity in your house today? As well as no television, no heating other than a fireplace, no family automobile, no video games, no telephones in our home, and no paved street in front of your house? I was probably four or five years old before my family had the convenience of electricity inside our house.”

 

“In the coal mining camp (where they lived), we had no recreational facilities, such as basketball courts or gymnasium. We did have sleds which were a lot of fun in the winter time. During the summer months, we would pitch horseshoes and play various board games, none of which I can remember the name of. Almost all of the boys owned a slingshot.”

 

“It was during the days of the Great Depression when I was growing up. Salaries were very meager and jobs were extremely scarce. At one point, my father was laid off and had no job for quite a while. I can recall my father walking to the store, which was a very long distance, to pick up groceries for the neighbor. The neighbor would pay my father 25 cents and my father would buy beans, and sometimes flour, for us. My mother made a lot of biscuits in those days, and many times our supper would consist of only beans and biscuits. But, we were satisfied with that.”