“The Good Life,” is always just out of reach when it is based on values that are fundamentally incapable of delivering on the promise.
Yesterday I made arrangements to meet a friend for coffee. Twenty minutes before our appointment I realized I had time to walk. The weather was cold and sunny, so I put on my leather jacket, stuck my hands in my pockets, and hiked the 1.1 miles to the Wake Forest Coffee Company.
Fall colors, sunshine, tree-lined streets, 43-degrees, invigorating fresh air; taking a stroll through my neighborhood, down Main Street, across the railroad tracks and into downtown; sitting down with one of the guys for good java and deep conversation – it doesn’t get much better.
We talked, we enjoyed our coffee, we got to know each other a little more, we shared life, we prayed together. And what I thought, heading back out into the cool air for the walk home, was how inordinately blessed I am, and how simple the pleasures are that make such a conclusion ring true.
What was especially poignant for me was the fact that I was feeling this way on so-called “Black Friday,” the day America takes an assessment of what it is thankful for on Thursday, and then concludes that what would really make us all happy would be a few more shopping-bags full of stuff.
“The Good Life,” is always just out of reach when it is based on values that are fundamentally incapable of delivering on the promise.
“Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others. By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may take hold of the life that really is life.” – 1 Timothy 6:17-19
I’d like to be propelled forward into Advent on the wings of gratitude, and in the understanding that it is faith, relationships, a thankful heart, freedom, generosity, community, and the joy of simply taking in deep breaths that define the good life.
“[Our] trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment…” – v 17b
– DEREK
Derek Maul: Words, Photographs, and Food for the Journey 
So true. We’re just starting to experience the Black Friday retail phenomena in Britain, and a debate is starting as to the ludicrousness of this taking place in a country that doesn’t actually have Thanksgiving as a festive occasion. I personally feel that the time has come to take back Christmas from retailers, as there is now no aspect of Christmas (in which, in this country, the central message is almost entirely missing) which is not being commercially exploited. And the way to do that is to stop buying into the commercial exploitation. Keep it as simple as possible. Look at what you really need. Do you really need a biscuit tin that plays carols? Or do you really need to go to church and consider the poor and hungry?
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