When I read these sayings this week in The Message, they hit me in a new way. What stood out this time were the words rain and spring-fed. This summer has been an amazing year for growing anything. Rain has come in the right amounts at the right time. We've had plenty of sun but no long spells of hot weather. Growing a garden in this kind of weather could not be easier!
A rain barrel and a spring-fed well are the same as a garden that you never have to water. They require no cost at all. With a little preparation and maintenance, the water is there whenever you need it, just waiting for you to get it.
In the larger context, these verses are about being faithful to your spouse. Don't go looking for another woman when your wife is at home. If the other woman is married, her husband will never forgive you (Prov. 6:34-35). Not to mention the foolishness of going down the road that ultimately leads to destruction (Prov. 6:32-33).
However, adultery is not a huge temptation for me, but in our age of consumerism, these verses made me aware of another temptation. I am tempted so often to pay someone else for what I could do myself. Why eat leftovers when I could pay someone to make me fresh food? Why put energy into looking for creative activities and toys when I can just buy something at the store or pay someone else for entertainment? Why take the time to shop at garage sales or thrift stores not knowing if I'll find something I need when I can just go to the store any day any time?
Beyond the ease of those options, there is another component. In college, for a health and fitness class, I read an article that divided exercisers into categories. One category was the person who starts any exercise program by buying equipment and accessories. I'm often tempted by that category. I love gear. I want to have the latest technology in clothing, shoes, and equipment. I want to look the part. I don't want to show up at a yoga class where everyone is wearing their super cute yoga clothes in my ratty old sweat pants and holey t-shirts.
I also want to live the life. I want to go to concerts and try new restaurants. I want to eat fancy food and pretty desserts. I want to go out with friends. I want to go on trips. I don't want to live my life at home. I want to live my life out in the world, experiencing life!
But who said that life doesn't happen at home? Who said that real life is fancy food and expensive concerts?
Well, a lot of people as it turns out.
I was looking online to try to find out why I find it so difficult to drink from my own barrel, and I found that shopping has become a psychological component of our lifestyles. In an excellent interview, Dr. Kit Yarrow identifies a few reasons people shop:
1. Social connection. In an increasingly disconnected society, people connect with others by shopping.
2. Tradition. Right now, we are in the midst of the back-to-school shopping season. Back-to-school shopping has become more than just an aside or an inconvenience; it is part of the back-to-school "season." How could our kids go to school without their shiny new school supplies and their shiny new clothes? Likewise, Dr. Yarrow identified Black Friday as more than a day to get good bargains; it's a symbolic beginning to the Christmas season for many families.
3. Managing anxiety. According to Dr. Yarrow, people use shopping to manage anxiety about upcoming life transitions. For example, when people are getting married or having a baby, they go shopping as a way to feel prepared for the future event. He describes this as visualizing their future similar to the way athletes use visualization to enhance their performance.
As a stay-at-home-mom, I really want to use these years when I can devote my time and energy to my household to develop good habits, routines, and traditions. We receive so many different messages from tv shows, commercials, and our peers that tell us how to find meaning, how to run our households, and how to carry out our traditions. It's not easy to live differently, but the lifestyle instructed by the proverbs has never been easy. If it was, Proverbs would not have been written!
Some alternative practices might include:
1. Inviting friends over for dinner instead of going out.
2. Having a sing-along instead of going to a concert (thanks to the Olive Branch Community for their recent sing-along!)
3. Cooking at home and eating leftovers instead of eating out.
4. Taking advantage of free events like library programs, free museum days, and nature centers.
5. Spending time in your backyard, exploring and playing.
6. Learning skills like sewing, knitting, and canning to make things instead of buying them.
7. Reading aloud, playing music, going for a walk, or spending time with friends instead of watching tv.
8. Growing a garden instead of buying produce.
9. Develop family traditions that don't revolve around buying things.
Here's to drinking from my own rain barrel and drawing water from own spring-fed well!
Do you feel compelled to shop? To pay someone else to provide goods or services that you could provide from your own resources? Do you have more ideas for ways to live alternatively?
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| Enjoying the fruit of our labors |
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