Nov 16, 2011
Is It Possible to Own Nothing?
While looking at a smashed pumpkin in the street the other day, I thought to myself how nice it is that the restless youths didn’t target our place. We have some nice planters with flowers that would probably be quite amusing for an intoxicated youth to smash.
It’s not like I’ve invested a lot of time and money on our front porch, but I’ve done enough to like it the way it is. No drunken late night remodeling required, thank you very much.
Then I had the oddest shift in my thinking. I was reminded of a friend who is living in a new monastic community in Philadelphia. He once made a remark, that I will butcher with my own paraphrase, that owning property is the source of many human conflicts.
There’s something worth pondering in his statement.
Think about this. If I have nice furniture on my porch, I now have something that I will most likely try to defend. I will engage in conflict in order to protect my possessions. However, if my porch is empty, the drunken youths of W. California Ave. must find their amusement elsewhere—that, or just go to bed.
I began to wonder if it’s better to own nothing. Do the monks and hermits have a corner on us?
A pastor who researched such things found that even monks who take a vow of poverty find things to squabble over and protect. In other words, simplicity can help us sharpen the focus of our lives, but it won’t save us from the desire to possess things and to protect them at the expense of our relationships with others.
And thus, we are left with matters of the heart. We can’t outwardly engineer for inner heart change. Only God can do that. Only God can bring us to the point where realize that we own nothing in this world, whether or not we have it in our possession or not.
While I’d rather someone didn’t trash my flowers, I aspire to arrive at a place where I can view my porch as a place that is empty. I truly own nothing there. I have things that I can use, but should they be taken away, I need to let go since they never were mine to begin with.
And once we figure out the porch, we can begin to think about what I own in the rest of the house…
I use the word “aspire” with specific intent. I don’t write any of this as someone who has beaten materialism. I feel like a toddler who just stumbles along in this department.
May God loosen my grip on the things of this life so that I can take hold of him.
What are your thoughts on ownership and stewardship?
I currently work with individuals coming out of jail, who have are literally recreating their lives. It has taught me so much about possessions.
Several years ago I was ill and had to live communally while I healed. I put all my “stuff” into storage and lives with the very basics. It is now 2.5 years later, have moved to another communal space and still have that pile of stuff in the storage unit. What does it all represent? My past joys, loves, failures, hopes…I often imagine that when I open the door to the unit, all these words and images come flying out…do these possessions represent my life? Or how I conduct myself in the world day to day? We judge ourselves by what we “have”.
In working toward a greater understanding of the physical and spiritual worlds. I study the Prayer of Jabez from the old testament. What I take from it is that we are not given more unless we are being good stewards of what we currently have. As I work to create greater resources to use to help others, I must keep clear about the intent of the greater resources.
When I am openly seeking the wisdom of Christ within me, I am able to be open with my blessings and can see how I allow myself to be used as a conduit of His love. When I am fearful and scared of not having enough, I feel a sense of sadness and longing. Within God, there is always enough.
Thanks you for this great topic! Much to learn!
Sounds like something I would say
The flip side is that personal ownership drives economics, not to mention responsibility for work. Societies without laws protecting personal ownership tend to be destitute. It may be better to frame the issue in terms of the opportunity for growth as a community. I like you will oppose anyone who comes to destroy property. However, I don’t begrudge sharing with someone who can benefit. Another example is that I am annoyed when someone wastes food, but I don’t mind buying food for someone who will eat and be nourished.
1. He owns ALL things and has assigned me as steward for some things.
2. If His porch gets trashed, I am to remember that ALL things work together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. Therefore, I am called to give thanks in ALL circumstances and cheerfully clean up His mess for this is God’s will for me in Christ Jesus.
3. This is immensely freeing–to the extent that I can remember and act on it.
I wonder if we can just get to a point were we own things, but they don’t own us. Hold them very loosely, b/c they are on loan from God.
I must admit, that’s much easier to do when you buy used items. If our Subaru was last year’s model, and not a 1995 model we bought reconstructed /used, I have a feeling it would matter a bit too much where I parked it, and how the kids pulled their bikes around it.
Maybe degrading the priority of items right off the bat could help us change our priorities on worth for things that are not people. People matters…things are things.
extremes are wrong, both of materialism [greed/grasping], and asceticism – both are based on a lie…
ascetics are still trying to earn eteraml life and taking glory away from Jesus’ finished work on the Cross
self-discipline for the love of God and others, which has a practical purpose is different
the monk/nuns etc, still need to eat and drink and lie down to sleep without their bodies being bruised from harshness of the ground etc or freezing from the elements, [and would need it even more if they were solely, or mostly, responsible for the 24 hour care of some little ones and therefore had to ensure their health and strength was adequate for the task - because that is Love].
Sorry, yes, this makes me angry (the way some ‘Religious’ lives are heralded as sacrificial moreso than non-clerics, non-’Religious’), when the ‘ordinary’ Christian life of love outside the walls of a monastery or convent, living in owned or rented, [as we do as we have no money to buy] properties, can have many more demands because of practical, functional reasons that come from love of God and others…and we can do that with ‘prayer without ceasing’ too, infact our surroundings feed that prayer.
Owning is not wrong – not sharing with others in need is wrong – [when it is asked of us and within the realms of our ability and it would not negate the love responsibility to those God has given us first care responsibilities for]
sorry for my lengthy response, it comes because these thoughts were on my mind last night as I was watching some Irish nuns on a T.V. programme and listening to what one said.
sorry for typo, [I'm a terrible typer] can’t see an edit button