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Being Consumed
Galatians 5:13-15; 1 Timothy 6:6-1
A sermon by K. Toivanen at EMUC, 11/16/2008
On my way home on Friday night, I stopped at my local grocery store. As I wheeled my cart up and down, I kept finding myself in the same aisle as a mother and her child. Seated in the cart at just the right level for eye contact with a number of products tantalizing for children, the preschooler demanded item after item. And without much resistance, his mother handed him item after item - single serving jello in plastic cups, drinkable yoghurt, cookies, string cheese and so on.
I must admit, I was bothered by the child’s incessant demands and even more so by the easy compliance of his mother. And I wondered, have we become so inured to the mantra of consumption that we no longer have any twinge of conflict or concern about raising our children from an early age to be good little consumers.
And of course there is lots of encouragement to be a consumer. According to the Canadian Pediatric Society, the average child sees more than 20,000 TV commercials each year, with more than 60% of those commercials promoting sugared cereals, candy, fatty foods and toys. Many cartoon shows are simply a front for the advertiser. And now, no matter where you go - pumping gas at the service station, lining up for a drink or donut at Tim Hortons, even standing in line at the check out at some stores, we come face to face with a video screen that constantly blares advertising at us.
I think that as people of faith, most of us sense that all is not right with this consumer life-style, but we aren’t always sure how to articulate our concerns without sounding self-righteous and of course, we recognize that we aren’t immune from this consumptive lifestyle ourselves.
You see, there is no question about whether or not to be a consumer; we all need to consume in order to stay alive. The question we need to explore is what practices of consumption will support the lifestyle that God calls us to? In our consuming how can we express the freedom of serving one another in love as Paul writes in his letter to the Galatians?
And what practices of consumption will lead to the riches expressed in the letter to Timothy, the rich simplicity of being ourselves before God, the riches of doing good, of helping others, of being extravagantly generous.
In his book, Being Consumed, William Cavanaugh, a professor of theology at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul Minnesota, describes consumerism as a ‘restless spirit that is never content with any particular material thing’. Rather than being overly attached to material possessions, according to Cavanaugh, a consumer culture is all about detachment to material things.
He says that our relationship with the products that we buy is short-lived; and that rather than hoarding treasured objects, consumers are characterized by a constant dissatisfaction with material goods. A good consumer is always in pursuit of something new; always longing to make the next acquisition.
After all, how can we be content with the iPod that downloads 200 songs when someone else has one that downloads a thousand? How can we be content with a cell phone that merely sends and receives messages, when a friend has one that takes photos and can connect with the email server?
That’s why it is not simply buying but shopping that is at the heart of consumerism. And each time we shop, we hold out the hope that this time, our purchase will fulfill us in some way - making us happier, more successful, wiser … you name it.
So powerful is the urge to shop, that it is estimated that in the USA, 10 % of the population are addicted to shopping and in women alone the figure rises to 20%; a greater percentage than those addicted to drugs and alcohol combined (p. 15)
Of course all of this shopping leads to the manufacturing, the acquisition and the disposal of an awful lot of stuff.
Annie Leonard, an expert in international sustainability and environmental health issues, came up with a creative way to communicate and educate about the impact of consumerism in our lives through her production of the internet video, ‘The Story of Stuff’. Today we are going to watch one segment of the video.
Before we watch the clip, I want to set the context for you first. The clip is in six parts, each part describing a step in system of where our stuff comes from and where it goes.
The steps are
- the extraction of resources from the earth that make our stuff
- production - the manufacturing of our stuff from the resources
- distribution - how our stuff gets to the market
- consumption - the heart of the system of keeping stuff flowing
- disposal, which is what happens to our stuff when we want to get rid of it
- and lastly suggestions for another way of dealing with our stuff.
We are going to watch the clip on ‘consumption’, which Annie calls the ‘golden arrow’, because it is the heart of the system, the engine that drives this system of materials economy.
Let’s watch that clip now.
…And we could just stop
That's what Consuelo Marano's family did. For one year, they made a commitment not to shop. Consuelo’s 14 year-old daughter Marta was unwittingly the inspiration.
According to Consuelo, a graphic designer in Toronto, Marta was just starting to do stuff on her own with her friends. She says, "I noticed the only thing they did was go shopping at the mall. It was scary; she was a shopper-in-training. I killed the training."
And so the family joined "The Compact" – a loose group of people around the world who commit to not shop for a year. Some do it for social justice, protesting sweatshop labour. Others commit for spiritual reasons; others as an environmental pledge.
The Compact has gained media attention and today more than 9,000 people from as far as Iceland and Hong Kong have committed to the same principles.
Compacters who commit to experiment don’t buy anything new for 12 months - with some exceptions: food and drink, medication and other health essentials, work necessities and safety requirements, like new car tires. Everything else is borrowed, bought second hand or done without.
What's the impact of one person not shopping for a year? It can mean 200 kilograms less waste. That's how much each of us, on average, chucks out of our homes, not including recyclables and compost.
And what about the impact on those who try the experiment? Most say they have more free time and a stronger connection to family, friends and neighbours, as they repeatedly knock on doors looking to borrow a saw or prom dress.
Speaking to the Toronto Star reporter, Consuelo says, "It's like getting out of an addiction someone pushed on you. You feel the freedom. You have more time."
For her family, the experiment has become a permanent lifestyle.
…a stronger connection to family, friends and neighbours, a reduction of the amount of pollution and garbage in our planet…hummm, sounds like there might be something in this ‘compact’ experiment that supports the scripture readings that we read today.
Folks, I’m not going to neatly summarize this sermon topic today for there is far more to discuss and to reflect upon. Think of today’s focus as the beginning of the discussion as we continue to look at our habits of consumption taking into consideration the impact on labourers, the environment, on our own spirits and on our way of being with others in the communities that God calls us to be.
And as next steps, I invite you to:
- watch and discuss ‘The Story of Stuff’ video at thestoryofstuff.com and for those of you with children, watch it with them
- and take time to read some of the resource links and suggested actions on the same website
- come to the ‘Simply Christmas’ event on Friday December 5th at 6:30 and together we’ll have some fun and discover meaningful alternatives to the consumptive way of celebrating Christmas
- take some prayerful and reflective time on your own and with your household to choose your purchases carefully and have a heart to heart conversation about your shopping habits and how and where you spend your money.
I’d like to end with a few words of wisdom from Cavanaugh’s book:
Things, (or stuff) are not ends in themselves; they are means to a greater attachment to others. We are not to cling to our things, but to use them for the sake of the common good. But to have a good relationship with others, it is necessary to have a proper relationship with things.
We must understand where our things come from and how our things are produced. Things do not have personalities and lives of their own, but they are embedded in relationships of production and distribution that bring us into contact, for better or for worse with other people’s lives. (p. 58)
When we see the world as sacred, things become less disposable and more filled with meaning when they are used to promote communion with God and with other people. May it be so.
Amen.
Sources: www.storyofstuff.com
Being Consumed , William T. Cavanaugh
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