Eight years ago, I packed almost everything I had into a small basement, and I left for Africa with one suitcase. Since I’ve been coming back to Poland just for a while, I’ve been throwing out bags of unnecessary things. But that time I left them because they seemed important to me. Today, I don’t even remember what is in there.
Here, in Poland, here, on the internet, every now and then someone tries to tell me what I need. To convince me that I would be doing the right thing by spending my money. Because without this something to sell, my life will be poorer, more difficult, less healthy, unfulfilled. Meanwhile, I walk around the shopping mall from time to time and can’t shake one thought: our heads have gone crazy.
Mine too.
We want more all the time. We think that so many products are necessary. And I’m not just talking about some luxuries. But about every next spatula for a frying pan, new trousers or a jug for milk. It’s not that they’re bad. It’s not about those specific things. But the question is: what do we really need? And if something only costs $2, is it worth spending it on something unnecessary? Let’s try taking $2 and throwing it in the bin. Will it hurt?
Mozambique helped me a bit, freed me, and rationalized my shopping. In Nacala, where we live, there is one supermarket. Lots of stores with plastic. Plastic chairs, boxes, bowls, plates and containers of various shapes. There are also a few Chinese stores. And single ones “with everything”. In bakeries there are two or three types of white buns, which differ in shape, not taste. There are stores with car parts. Construction stores. Pharmacies. And a few boutiques with expensive and poor quality items. In this variety I sometimes manage to find something surprising in a Chinese store. So in Mozambique, apart from food, medicines and car parts, I don’t really do any shopping.
Instead, I make lists. I plan what to buy in Poland all year round. What we need and what would be useful. What would be nice to have. These long notes change a lot during the year. Because time allows whims to cool down. So things disappear from the list if I can replace them with something else. Or if I can cope without them. When I get to Poland, I not only know what we need, but I am also resistant to all my own unexpected wishes.
However, I also want to have some pleasure. Pleasure that is also a need. Because nice things make it easier for me to breathe in Mozambique. They allow me to remain Ania. So every time I take a nice mug with me to drink coffee. Some new clothes. And something for home that will only be beautiful.
And in Poland, I do this: before I buy something, I give myself a few days. Until my desires calm down and common sense comes to the fore. In most cases, after this time I don’t need the thing that I wanted so much just a moment ago! And so I talk to God about my desires and longings. After all, who wants to make us happy more than He, who invented us and filled us with breath of life? He created us not only with basic needs, but also with the need for beauty. He, interested in the smallest and not least important. Every step proves that He is there and listens. Let’s try to talk to Him. Even about those shoes that we have liked for a long time, but are not essential.
Prosperity can be tricky. It asks about our every need. It finds a lack and immediately presents an offer to fill it. Heck, it even knows how to create apparent lacks. It expands the space in which there are plenty of unnecessary things. Or unimportant things that take up our time and hearts. Prosperity lulls us to sleep and takes away our sensitivity. And also gratitude. Through oblivion, about how it used to be. Through ignorance, as it could be. Until we sometimes lose the most important thing.
What thing? The perspective that money should serve, not enslave. The perspective that money is for life, not a squeezer of it so that we can have more. The perspective that we ourselves, filled, can share with those who do not have as much as we do. Gratitude for how much we have and how lucky we are in the Western world. Whom? God Himself, and with Him good plans for us.
It is more blessed to give than to receive. It is also safer. For balance. Prosperity needs sharing and giving. For health.
“I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” Acts 20:35 NKJV
Help someone. Notice someone. Stop for someone. Not pass by indifferently. I often pray for myself like this: “Lord, do not let me turn my eyes away from the one in need. Help me to react despite the rush, despite the inconvenience of an interrupted plan. Help me to be attentive.”
Let it be us!
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