THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 18, 1994 TAG: 9406170076
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Betsy Mathews Wright
DATELINE: 940618 LENGTH: Medium
From Harry Brooks of Virginia Beach: ``Opening a discussion on materialism was a very good move. . . . Having been closely involved with Evangelicals and Charismatics, I have observed views on `mammon' (Aramaic for `material wealth') fluctuate from one extreme to another. At one time, poverty was seen as a badge of spirituality. In later times, the `prosperity movement' leaped from its Charismatic (and exclusively American) underpinnings, loudly proclaiming God's `riches in glory' to consist of the `stuff' mentioned by you and the prophet George Carlin.
{REST} ``From my Quaker grandparents I learned that materialism does not consist merely of possessing `stuff.' Rather it consists of `stuff' possessing us. This is no trite cliche. It is actually possible for one who possesses much to be less materialistic than one who possesses far less! It seems to be a matter of attitude. The Tenth Commandment proscribes coveting. Why? Because one need not actually possess one's neighbor's `stuff' to commit sin concerning it.
``Jesus dealt with materialism on both a general and personal basis. He told the rich young ruler (Matthew 19:16-24) to sell all he had and give the money to the poor if he wanted to be `complete.' However, Jesus was satisfied for the rich Zacchaeus to give up half of his wealth to the poor (Luke 19:1-10). Our Lord did not discount the power of wealth to distract; yet he stopped short of declaring wealth to be intrinsically evil.
``Those remarks about your new husband's apparent `mammon-less' existence before marriage reminded me of my own spartan bachelorhood. Gee! If a guy can keep his underwear in a grocery bag in the closet, does he really need a chest of drawers?
``Having lived in various bachelor pads over the years, I had little need for furniture. In 1980, I could pack all I owned into a lien-free 1977 Datsun B-210. After bidding adieu to bachelorhood five years later, I acquired more `stuff' by virtue of the what's-mine-is-thine philosophy my wife and I share.
``Well, I can't say that this acquisition has made me less or more spiritual. I know that `wealth' is a relative term, and I refuse to be intimidated by the demands of religious ascetics or by those money-focused `King's Kids' of the prosperity movement.
``It is very hard to detect pure materialism in someone merely by the size of one's house or the shape of one's car. . . . I suppose such detection is best left to the one who judges the intents of the heart.''
\ From Patricia Armstrong of Virginia Beach: ``I believe we would be much happier if we could learn to simplify our wants. No key for simplifying life is more important than our stance toward possessions. When we look at the life of Jesus, one of the things we are immediately aware of is his attitude toward material things. Jesus possessed his possessions. His possessions did not possess him.
``There are two ways to be rich. One is to have lots of money and things. The other is not to want or need any more than we've already got. I have to admit it is a struggle not to always be wanting more, as our society is so materialistic. But I do believe there is joy in learning to live simple and uncluttered lives, because this frees us from the tyranny of always having to chase after more and more.''
\ And from Norfolk reader Kathleen J. Ober came this final on-a-different-note letter: ``After a week of looking and listening to D-Day celebrations, I sat down to put (my feelings about) it into words. . . . What has all the observances of D-Day meant to me?
``More than the rhetoric, the martial music, the muffled sound of marching feet, the screaming planes, the bursting sonic booms . . . more than all that. The fact that being human is more than eating, drinking, copulating entities. That above, inside, more than we know is a Power that under stress asserts itself in dominant energy. (When recognizing it) we fall to our knees, tears blur the eyes at the wonder of it all and the muscles tighten in fresh awareness of the tremendous gift of Life.
``In a book of treasures I rediscovered Tennyson's `Ulysses.' In the poem, Ulysess is now an old man and he speaks:
`How dull it is to pause, to make an end,
We are not now strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.'
by CNB