If the United States Is Stuck In the Cycle of Consumption, Why Don't We Just Stop the Merry-Go-Round and Get Off?
I read an article recently that said that 99% of products purchased by Americans were discarded within 6 months. And the average American consumer buys 53 times as many products as the average buyer in China. It would take 3 Earths to supply all the natural resources consumed if everyone in the world consumed as much as Americans. It is a cycle inherint in our culture. Without the cycle of consumption and waste, our economy would crumble. Advertisers take every opportunity to exploit the glut of consumerism in America, as we are fed hourly with the lie that we need the newest, latest and greatest thing. And conversely, our old things are worthless. If you are looking for the contemporary "Great Harlot" of Revelation 17, the "new Babylon," I think we need not go any further than our front yards. Perhaps an often missed point of Revelation is not to look for the evil in the world and pine away for the ultimate relief of external tyranny, but rather to look for the evil in ourselves and pray for its removal. The evil we are all capable of as imperfect human beings. Its ugly head rears itself over and over in Revelation in the form of dragons and evil kings and kingdoms. What if it is commentary not only on evil and good, but the evil we are inherently capable of as fallen humans? In fact, I think looking for it only outside ourselves is missing a major part of the message. If you believe, as I do, that scripture is inspired by God and timeless, shouldn't it apply to us, now, in our daily lives? "Inspired by the Spirit, holy men of old wrote..."
So how can we possibly get off the hamster wheel? What alternative is there? The alternative I think, is none-other than the living Jesus. When I spend time with Jesus, I am more satisfied with what I have, as the Christian way of life implores us to be thankful in all we have been given. This is not a license to get more. It is the opposite: a call to consume only what we need, the blessings we are entrusted with though they are not ours, and to give the rest away. And the Way, the life-long path of following Jesus, provides the method to do this. Through thankfulness that is born out of time spent with the living Jesus. How are we to spend time with a person that is beyond time, outside of our four-dimensional world (time being the fourth dimension)? Someone who is alive beyond the limited chronological sequence we exist in? It is through that amazing organ we have sitting on top of our brain stem - through the practice of remembrance. Through the practice of consciously communing with the divine. I think the groundwork for this practice is reading and learning scripture and putting into practice the truths that are found there. This allows us to know the personality of God and Jesus so that we can have a relationship with Him and commune with Him.
So, fine, scripture read. Check. Stories committed to the heart. Check. How do I commune with the divine? Church and worship, sure, but I think it helps to have a place to go, especially if you are a visual person like me. I started soaking to music while reading scripture and extra-biblical sources and practicing mindful meditation. I was given a scene I could go to any time I wanted. Later, I found through meditation exercises and DBT, that a centering "safe" place is essential. I am describing it here partially for you, but also for me. To make it more real for me, and to share what I have found. A place that is uniquely mine, but in concept shared by Christians the world over.
So, in this vision (this place that I return to often), I was walking up a brown dirt path to a walled garden. The wall was made of field stones of different colors and sizes, but overall it appears gray from a distance. But this background of gray was spattered with ivy bearing fragrant purple and blue flowers. There is no gate on the wall, but an open passageway invites me in. As I enter, I am struck by the incandescent greenery of the grass. Shrubs and flowing plants line the walls to my left and right, where the wall runs down to the edge of a pure blue river that is meandering through the garden. In front of the river is a log cut from a fallen tree. It's bark is rough and brown, and it's inside is faded gray from sitting in the weather. Sitting on the log is a man. With a short beard of brown and dark eyes. He has a smile on his face as he sees me enter and he motions for me to come side down with him on the log overlooking a small campfire. The fire crackles and smells of fall which is my favorite time of year. But it is not fall here - everything is at the height of bloom and the fragrant flowers, lilac and others fills the garden and competes with the smell of fire. I sit down on the log and breath deeply. I am sitting next to Jesus, who just smiles at me with his mouth and eyes at the same time. The sky is blue and spotted with wispy clouds that slowly migrate across the sunny sky from one side of the garden to the next and off out of sight. The sound of the water trickling and babbling as it runs over the water smoothed rocks in the current. If I want, I can ask questions of Jesus, and he will respond warmly. Sometimes this is how God talks to me, through the very words of Jesus, living in my meditations.
What I say to him is not always pleasant. I let it all out. I have beaten him bloody in my visions at times. This may or may not be shocking to you. He gets up after I am done, smiles, puts his hand on my shoulder and says, "You and me, we're ok." As I have shared it with others, I have found I am not alone. One Christian I talked to used to cut herself when she was younger. She abandoned that and took to stabbing Jesus instead! But most of the time it is not violent. It is peaceful, serene. I can let him know the things that are on my mind, what is troubling me. It does not have to be in words - he just knows.
The more detailed the place is, I think, the better. What are the sounds, smells, tastes, and touch sensations that you experience? All the better. This practice is not solely a Christian one. Meditation and visualization are practiced by people of many religions, and increasingly, by people of no religion at all. But I think that knowing the living Jesus and having a relationship with Him echoed in representation of Him in your mind is unique to Christianity. And it is very powerful. Life-changing, in fact, over time. The benefits of this practice cannot be over-estimated. The interest in visualization of a relaxing place and mindfulness are huge and their benefits extend to all aspects of emotional, spiritual, and physical health. This is a little reminder to carve out that place for yourself, and if you already have it, a reminder to go there, often. Ask your cares of Jesus himself. I think his responses are not solely a construct of your mind, but are infused with the personality of Jesus, the personality you have experienced in scripture and prayer, the living Jesus, God among us.
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