In Australia the price of living is going up sharply. The cost of vegetables seems to have doubled or tripled. The price of fuel has never been this high. I said at the dinner table last night “inflation is increasing”. My children responded, “what is inflation?” They have never experienced inflation in their lifetimes. My ego and mind immediately thought “how do we make more money to get by?” Yet, Jesus in the scriptures clearly says, “blessed are the poor”. This seems counter to our culture that wants to own more money. Why poor? We make ourselves more available when we are poor. To be open to care for others… To be open to consider something beyond who we are… This is not about how much money we have in our lives, but rather, how we approach our life. Are we willing to let go of the things we crave for God’s spirit to come in?
As we approach our own death, we must let go of all of our worldly possessions. We loose a sense of control. We lose what we want to do with our time. Instead of coming home each day wanting to fill our time with more and more things. Maybe we need to sit. To ponder. To be more available. To be present.
The next time my children pose a question, maybe it is an opportunity to spend some quality time with them instead of filling the time with something more.
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