The numerous ads on TV, papers, email, and internet promise
us special products to enhance memory, produce hair growth, loose weight with
out exercise and other things I won’t mention here. Foolish people spend good
money on things that do not satisfy and do not produce what was promised. The
old, and I mean very old, saying is, “If it seems too good to be true it most
likely is.” can be taken to heart and mind.
Yet we who are over weight, loosing hair, slipping memory
and failing body parts are anxious to return to our youthfulness. There are of
course some well known things we can do such as a good diet, exercise, both
mental and physical, that will prolong our abilities. Far too often by the time
we realize our condition we are years too late to do anything about it.
Isaiah 55:2 asks the very question, “Why do you spend money
for that which does not satisfy?” This is a lesson that has physical, mental
and spiritual context and it calls upon us to consider the true focus of our
lives. If we live simply and maintain good habits through out our lives we will
prosper. Perhaps the Amish and Quakers have the right of it by living as simply
as possible in the presence of God.
Posts
It's a conundrum: I'm living much more simply now than I was a few years ago and find it very much less stressful with no loss of comfort. But if we ALL dramatically cut our consumption our economy would crater, creating much (earthly) misery for many.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who grew up very similarly to an Amish/Quaker lifestyle, I'm here to tell you: The lifestyle may be more outwardly peaceful, but humans are humans inside, no matter if they have electricity or not. We can choose selfishness or choose generosity, choose envy or choose contentment, choose hatred or choose love whether we have a fast-paced job in NYC or live on a farm in rural Ohio!
ReplyDeleteBut you sure are right about "that which does not satisfy"...quietness, times of fun and times of rest, making room in our lives for thinking, reading, praying, etc. are what can bring a deeper, more steady satisfaction.