exercising my literacy

Material world, part II.

For some reason there was a "Wish" magazine (liftout from The Australian - since when did my family start reading that?) lying around my house. Presumably the name "Wish" alludes to the contents within the magazine - a wishlist of high end gadgets, entertainment, restaurants, travel etc.

It's quite a good magazine really, if I had lots of money and no qualms about spending it. And I suppose that if I weren't a Christian then there wouldn't really be any reason why I shouldn't spend hard-earnt money on yoga lessons in Spain or cooking lessons in Umbria (as outlined in the July issue that I've got).

There is a particular interesting article in there though. It was a sociological comment about how Australia was living in the most prosperous times in its history, in contrast to wartime frugalness of our parents. Brought up with the belief that there will always be a next paycheck, the author wonders how Generation Y will cope when the economy will eventually downturn.

I then had the following thoughts in no particular order.

1) That's pretty true - most of my friends are expecting to earn more in the future. When talking about superannuation the other night, my friend scoffed that by the time she retired, she expects herself to be eraning enough to not have to bother about super.

We're certainly living like it's good times - things that used to be a luxury back at uni (e.g. late drinks at hotels) are now the norm. I'm not sure if any of us saves with the mentality that they will need it one day when things are dire. The paradigm is more "I'll invest these savings to make more money so my lifestyle can be even more luxurious".

So I wonder how we will cope if and when the economy invariably with turn bad.

2) I was (regrettably) moaning about how my kitchen is engorged with takeaway boxes that my mum keeps. I was saying, "Why?! We're only going to accumulate more when she buys more char siu, which is every other week", to which my friend made the wise comment that we live in times of abundance; my mother did not. I throw things out because I assume there will always be money to buy another one; my mother keeps everything because when she was my age she had to make do with nothing for days on end.

That conversation made me see Mum's actions in new light. Made me pause and swallow my words the next time I opened the kitchen cupboard.

3) The article made me think of the chapter in John Piper's book "Desiring God" about money. There's a lot of angst for Christians about materalism; both as a struggling issue within themselves, and as ammunition to judge other Christians with (which is so bad, but true).

Anyway, the book talks about a principle to wisely evaluate material things - "wartime effectiveness", he called it. In times of abundance, we may spend on whatever we like. But in wartime, there is a greater national focus - winning the war. Things are then spent in such a way to get through the war, to help us win. People stop their normal jobs to join the battle, give aid to soldiers. They don't spend on frivolous things like art, but things practical for wartime such as food, warm clothes, ammunition.

Christians are in the midst of a spiritual war where our greater corporate focus ought to be the saving of souls, the advancement of His kingdom and glory of God. Our money likewise, should be spent in such a pattern as though we recognise the wartime situation that we are in.

4) The ultimate insincerity of this article, given that it is housed in this outrageously "spend, spend, spend" magazine. Or perhaps it's the author's pipsqueak warning to his readers to spare a thought for the future (depends on whether you look at things half-empty or half-full, I spose).

Anyway, this is my last post. It's been fun to write, but there is a time to speak and a time to listen, and my time to listen is long overdue. I'm not sure what exactly has been gained from blogging, and that is the strongest reason why this is the last one.

But it has been a pleasure to write, and I'll probably do it in some form later down the track. Just not for now. Not blogging.

Much love, Grace.

posted by me. @ 4:29 PM