I hate to admit this, but I found myself acting out a negative cultural value recently. Translation: I behaved in a way that is common to our society, but contrary to biblical principles. (Ever find yourself there?)
It all started after work one day last week.
I see that my Kindle cover has arrived, so I open the package, all happy that now I can protect my new device. But alas! The cover is too big.
Frustrated, I start searching for a better cover on line, despite being really tired. It takes some time to find what I am looking for at the right price. Now I’m even more tired.
Then I realize that in order to purchase that particular item, I have to open another account with yet another password. When I try to use my new username and password, it doesn’t work.
By now I am fuming. (Let’s just say I don’t get along super well with technology and its many potential glitches.) I get so mad I just decide to forget the whole thing.
Sad to say, I don’t even realize how toxic my attitude is until my husband gently points it out. Ouch.
Looking back, I see a series of bad choices springing out of a toxic root.
First, I allowed frustration to motivate me. Then I pushed myself, despite being tired. I wanted to resolve this problem. Why?
Because I wanted the perfect new thing for my other new thing. So I poured what little mental energy I had into trying to make my little world be just the way I wanted it.
I chose consumerism over contentment, quietude and kindness.
This is what Dr. Ravi Zacharias refers to as the “weariness of pleasure” which we suffer from as Westerners.
How many times do I allow my desires for comfort and pleasure to overrun the beauty of simplicity, gratitude, and just enjoying the world as it is?
Marie Kondo , author of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, says the average citizen of Japan or the United States has always owned too many things. That’s why we have a hard time keeping down the clutter in our homes.
We don’t know how many items we truly need because we are glutted with excess. We are burdened with stuff because we are too attached to the past, or too fearful of the future.
We mistakenly think that having lots of stuff will ground us.
Jesus warned concerning the coming Day of the Lord:
“But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap.” – Luke 21:34
Dissipation is often connected with drunkenness, but the bigger idea is over-indulgence and the glut of excess.
It’s saying yes to the self again and again when it comes to short-term pleasure.
Yes to chocolate. Yes to the new dress. Yes to the pursuit of yet another thing for my house, my life, my comfort.
I can’t remember the source, but I read a good piece of advice recently:
Say no to yourself sometimes, just because.
Time is precious. So is emotional and mental energy. Do we really want to use them up chasing more stuff and more experiences?
The pursuit of happiness leads to dissipation. It’s exhausting and burdensome. I want to stop chasing it.
I want to watch my heart so it doesn’t get weary and weighed down. You, too?
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