Today’s author is Prince of Peace Intentional Interim, Pr. Steve Sylvester.
“Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread and your earnings for that which does not satisfy?” Isaiah 55:2
Why indeed? This is an especially interesting question for those who live, as I do, in a culture in which shopping is entertainment, hobby and sport. We shop because we are bored or because we are happy. We shop because something new has come out or because something old has come back into style. And there is no time when we do all of this with such manic passion as between Thanksgiving, especially Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and the final “Will be received before Christmas Day!” deadline.
Years ago, Jennifer and I were in the front room of our home, and our son Sam did something, I can’t remember what it was, that caused one of us to ask, “Sam, why do you do that?” He paused, looked at us, furrowed his brow in question and said, “Why DO I do that?” Our consumer culture has worked hard to trigger in us an unconscious “shopping response.” We are studied by behavioral psychologists and conditioned to acquire whatever is newer, bigger and better. And then halfway into the season of Advent, through the prophet Isaiah, God says, “Stop! Just stop. You’re being silly. Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food… so that you may live.”
Those are two of the most important messages in Advent: Stop and Start. First, we are encouraged to stop trying to fill ourselves by consuming the empty calories of things we simply must have but don’t actually need. And then, consider instead eating the love and the hope and forgiveness and the promises of God that will enliven and sustain us. And here’s another thing. We’re not called to be lemon sucking ascetics. Switching to what God offers will delight us. They will truly satisfy.
So, there we are. We are in agreement with the prophet. Now what? I wish it were easy. I wish it were easy to escape from being the consumer creatures our culture conditions us to be. But with prayer, practice and perseverance, I think it is possible. Instead of asking “Do I need this?” (because who can’t figure out how to make a need out of a want?), perhaps ask, “Will this bring life?” That’s a more difficult question to dodge. And I realize the “shopping season” (that sounds sad, doesn’t it?) is pretty much over. But Valentines Day is on the horizon, Easter comes soon after, then there’s all the stuff we need for summer, and after that comes fall and, before you know it, we’re face down again in the post-Thanksgiving trough. Maybe this is the right time to start, when we are disgusted with ourselves and don’t want to hit the repeat button a year from now. “Will this bring life?” You decide.