Neither Poverty nor Riches

For some time I have wanted to write some thoughts about excess.

When I was a kid my mom would buy things for me. When she found out what I liked, there was rarely a concern about 'too much of a good thing.' In fact even now, grandma likes to give gifts that she knows people will like. If one of the boys says he likes spiderman, you can be sure that we will soon have multiple toys and other things with spiderman on them. She had almost nothing when she was a child, so when she has the opportunity to give she gives and gives. Her giving spirit is one of the things that makes her a remarkable person.

After a few years of collecting, baseball cards seemed to become more commonly available. My mom would buy them for me by the box. In fact, she knew when the candy delivery guy was scheduled to deliver at the drugstore, and she bought some of them directly from him before they even made it to the shelf. At one point I started saving the unopened boxes, thinking that they might be worth a lot of money someday. Had that turned out to be true, I would probably be singing the praises of excess. But the reality is that most of the 'modern' cards are now worth very little. So I have an excess of cards.

I have grown up during one of the most affluent periods, as an American, that the world has ever seen. Since I have had so much, it is probably relatively easy for me to sit here and think about 'less is more.' But to some extent I think less really can be more, and I know the principle of moderation is biblical. For instance:

"Give me neither poverty nor riches - feed me with the food allotted to me; lest I be full and deny You, and say, 'who is the Lord?' or lest I be poor and steal, and profane the name of my God." - Proverbs 30:8-9.

My father-in-law, as compared to my mother, definitely tends to be more on the less-is-more side of the fence. I have come to have great respect for his philosophy of stuff. I think he would say, 'better a few high-quality things that will last, than a large quantity of less expensive stuff that wont last long.'

It is possible to go too far on either side; there are temptations in plenty and temptations in want. The temptations are different. I hope to be more thoughtful about what I'm teaching my kids about stuff. I want them to enjoy the blessing of moderation. I also want them to freely give.