Basic. Simple. Elementary. Fundamental. Necessary. Vital. 'Basic to all the necessities of human life are water, fire, iron, salt, flour, milk, honey, wine, oil and clothing.' Sirach's wisdom still stands: this is what we really need. I leapt with joy when I saw wine in this list, but that is just my affection for the industry in my current home town. However in biblical times alcohol was a life preserving dietary need. Without contemporary water cleaning methods or refrigeration, strong alcohol, mixed with water, was a daily need.
The natural life cycle for picked fruit is to evolve into alcohol and then vinegar. It is basic to its nature, and it is only our technology that stalls this process so that we might have apple juice and so on. Lent is a chance to get back to basics, to remember that we are, but dust..and that the life that is breathed into us is not ours. The whole of life will go back to earth, and God will use it again and again. Each year this time calls us to be free from our bondage to injustice. Lent calls us to focus on what is vital for God's reign to be made real in our communities.
I name my Lenten fasting practice as 'no frivolity'. No buying new music, books, movies or clothes. Nothing unnecessary. Just the basics. It sets me free to be satisfied with what I have, which is much much more than water, fire, iron, salt... Setting aside the distraction of frivolous spending and consumption reveals the abundance that is all around me. All I need is all around me: prayer, shelter, water, food and community.
The 'no frivolity' practice reminds me of a statement from Dr. Rowan Williams in his book about the desert mothers and fathers. Pledge yourself to the ground, he says. By pledging ourselves to just the basics we are pledging ourselves to where we are and what we have right Now. How can the time and money that I spend on clothes I do not need, how can this energy be used for justice and healing in my neighborhood? The pin of the day is basic.
Excellent idea, to abstain from the frivolous. Our lives are so abundant, yet we've been trained to see and respond to new things we 'need'. I remember my mother in her old age despairing of the fact she no longer cared about shopping, no longer wanted anything. I understand what she meant, that she was less involved with life, but there's so much more of life to be involved with than that.
ReplyDeleteit is an interesting project each time. in the long run it has influenced my day to day approach to consumption. taking the time to think is this critical really makes an impact.
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