Jack and Ruby,
Creature comforts are deadly. A great post was written not long ago by Hugh that talks about death by Stuff. It’s true, and it’s real. Evaluating your life by having the creature comforts du jour, or how you spend the cognitive surplus that humanity has created is subject to much debate.
But I’ve learned something: gadgets and creature comforts are nothing. They aren’t a way to reflect a life well lived, they are seductive things that we believe that we need because others have them, or they are sold to us with an increasingly sophisticated plan (that includes software!). Creature comforts as a way of life is neverending. You want a better kitchen, that requires a nicer house, and that house requires a move to a better school district. The better school district exposes you to more people, and those people have better cars.
All of these are good things, but when we compare ourselves to others we lose the ability to be grateful. I am profoundly blessed and lucky, and always have been. When I focus on “stuff” then you feel entitled. It corrupts your brain, you think that you lack things.
But look: no matter our faults, you have two parents who love you, two sets of grandparents who love you. We’re giving you the best education we can, and we’re leaving you wide latitude to pursue whatever interests that you have. We serve a God who is gracious and merciful, and we live in what is still the best place on earth.
You’re lucky. Realize that. You’re lucky. Be grateful. Be indifferent to creature comforts. They aren’t a sign of anything good. Do what you want to do and don’t get seduced by stuff.
I am learning this lesson now, after 34 years.
It’s certainly not easy.
-Chris
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I’ve been a huge fan of the idea that stuff is, when you come down to it, meaningless. Oh sure, it makes life more comfortable sometimes, and maybe makes doing our jobs easier, but in the end, it doesn’t mean anything. I read a news story a few weeks ago about a guy who had lost his house and everything in it in a fire. I’ll never forget what he said: “45 years…gone.” How sad that this guy thought that the sum of his life was no more than the material goods he had accrued.