We're moving and making those painful decisions about what to pack and what to give/sell that should never have to be made by someone who can hardly decide what to eat when hungry, much less what I should keep as we enter the exciting years of PhD poverty. Two Gandhi quotes have been whispering in my ear as I do so:
"[A] great burden fell off my shoulders, and I felt I could now walk with ease and do my work also in the service of my fellow men with great comfort and still greater joy. The possession of anything then became a troublesome thing and a burden."
That quote has come to my mind as I look at moving rates from pods to moving trucks.
This next quote however makes me wonder what I'm doing with the stuff at all:
"And I said to myself: possession seems to me to be a crime, I can only possess certain things when I know that others who also want to possess similar things are able to do so."
How do we settle such a thought? Yes it can be dismissed, and perhaps must, but how?
6 comments:
Not everyone has the same opportunities- and with those differences come different responsibilities. You don't have to cut off your nose to spite your face, or refuse to wear nice clothes till everyone in the world has them, but you can pay a generous fast offering, perform service, do your best to be charitable and make the world a better place, and train your children to do the same. Nothing makes a bigger difference than changing the people in the equation.
-Faith
Having lses things does make life less complicated.
I sympathize with the moving dilemmas. I think ABF U Pack is the least expensive--at least from Utah to Illinois.
Simplifying is good. Although I don't think you need to feel guilty about owning nice things as long as you don't go to into debt for them and you aren't overly extravagent.
"By the sweat of your brow..." and "where much is given much is required" come to mind...Use your things to serve others, or lack thereof so that you have more time to serve:). Joseph is great at never thinking twice about giving something to someone who needs it more than we do. It is nice to have a home that you can invite people over to and feel clean yet homey, for missionaries, investigators, friends. We miss our more simple life in KY before lots of kids and the things that come along with them, those were the days!
You know I'm right there with you on the guilt of possessions. I'm sure I take it to extremes but it can't be a bad thing to think about how much you have in comparison to others. Neal is naturally much better at getting rid of stuff than I am -- but I think my packrat tendencies are directly related to my frugality cause I wouldn't want to buy something gain if I needed it. I read the book Unclutter your life in one week and it had some good tips that helped. Like take a picture of sentimental clutter (or scan it if possible) and then give/sell it. I like the idea of taking a picture, maybe blogging about it, adn then letting go. I also think that watching disasters happen helps me think about the fact that it could all potentially be gone in a moment anyway -- what do I want to keep safe if possible, or have an electronic record of, etc.? Anyway, good luck with the process, which we will be doing in August!
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