GOOD FAITH FOR THE COMMON GOOD

Good Faith and the Co= mmon Good

Occasional Offeri= ngs from Sam Candler on issues of faith, church, and the world.<= /p>

= I AM THANKFUL FOR ALL THE THINGS I DO NOT NEED!!

It&= #8217;s that time of year. It’s time to wear everybody down by asking incessa= ntly what we are thankful for. From kindergartens to garden clubs, everyone will= be pressing themselves to consider all the things we are—or should be—thankful for.

Isn= ’t giving thanks supposed to be a lovely activity? Well, not always. During th= is upcoming season of Thanksgiving and Christmas, I remind myself that what we give thanks for can also affect our spiritual lives negatively. For example, there may be a problem with giving thanks for over-abundance and over-suppl= y. Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and the Tax-Collector reminds us that merely thanking God indiscriminately may not be the best prayer after all. =

The= refore, I have decided this year to thank God in another way. I propose to thank God not for all the things I have. I want to thank God, instead, for all the th= ings I do not have. I want to thank = God for all the things I do not nee= d!

I d= o not know about you, but I have received about a hundred pounds of retail catalo= gs in the last few weeks. The same catalogs are in the doctor’s offices. They are in the seat pocket of the airplane I flew a few weeks ago.

I t= hank God that I do not need all the products that those catalogs are offering. Have = you noticed how much stuff is in those catalogs that you absolutely do not need= ?

Her= e’s a few of the items I thank God that I do not need: I do not need an all-in-= one breakfast machine. This machine has slots for toast and eggs and sausages. Apparently, you put everything in, wash your hands, and then out pops your = own ready-to-eat breakfast. I do not need that. In fact, I enjoy a breakfast th= at requires a little time to prepare. It’s usually just enough time for = me to wake up. Machines that claim to save me time usually cost me a great deal more anxiety.

I a= m also thankful that I do not need a fifteen-thousand dollar exercise machine that promises to make me lose weight if I use it only ten minutes a day. Have you seen the advertisement for this machine? It looks like something the absent-minded professor has invented, full of arms and cables and strange hooks.

I m= ust admit that I am actually a bit overweight myself. I should exercise some more. Bu= t I think good exercise should not cost fifteen thousand dollars. It really cos= ts only time. I am thankful I do not need that contraption.<= /p>

I a= m also thankful I do not need the fanciest GPS—global positioning system—in my car. Have you seen how complicated and fancy they have become? For one thing, I like to know where I am going before I start drivi= ng the car.

For= a second thing, I really don’t want a strange voice telling me about ev= ery turn and every local attraction we pass. A friend of mine has one of these devices, and he took me for a ride in his fancy car. I could hardly have a conversation with him, due to that strange voice mildly droning out directi= ons. Actually, we were up in north Georgia and—I swear—we ended up on some God-forsaken dirt road that led us through a roller-coaster. I am than= kful that I do not need a GPS voice in my car.

Her= e’s one. Mini-helmets. A six-inch football helmet signed by my favorite footbal= l player. I am thankful I do not need that. If I had one, it would probably be signed= by Michael Vick.

Her= e’s another item I am thankful I do not need. It’s a new kind of shoe with industrial grade absorption springs in the heel. The ad says it defies grav= ity. Yeah, that’s just what I need. I hop over a crack in the street, and I end up bouncing into a plate-glass window. I am so thankful I do not need to wear gravity-defying shoes.

How= about the world’s largest write-on map of the world? Do I need that? Actual= ly, I thought I did need one of these, about ten years ago. We had children at home, and—how great!—we could have a huge map on the playroom w= all, so they could actually learn something while they were staring into space! = So I bought one. “World’s Largest” has to be correct. It was thirteen feet long and nine feet high. We didn’t have a wall it would= fit on. We ended up trying to install it by curving around the corner and up in= to the ceiling. We did not need that thing. I am thankful I don’t need another one. By the way, I do not need a television screen that big either.=

I am thankful that I do not need a runaway alarm clock. Have you seen it? Its co= usin is an alarm clock that starts flying around the room when it goes off. The = idea is that you have to get out of the bed and search for it in order to turn o= ff the sound. That way, you are definitely awake. I am so thankful that I do n= ot need that.

I am thankful that I do not need a “garage elevator.” Apparently this device is a steel platform that you install in your garage. After you put a= ll your garage clutter into it, you hoist it up to the ceiling, so it’s = out of your way. That way, I suppose, I can put more clutter on the floor and f= ill every cubic foot of the garage with other things I do not use. I don’t need a garage elevator, and I cannot imagine how to install it anyway.=

I am thankful I do not need a nose-hair trimmer. Well, I take that back. My wife would probably say I do need a nose-hair trimmer. Would I pay more attentio= n to that area of my personal hygiene if I had paid forty dollars for a special machine? Let’s give it another year before I put it on the Christmas list.

I am thankful I do not need a backpack bicycle. This little bicycle apparently f= olds up so you can put it in your backpack…and add twelve pounds to what y= ou are already carrying. I guess if it got too heavy you could unfold it and t= ry to bicycle out on the trails, but I am not sure the six inch tires would let you do that. I am thankful that I like to backpack and I like to bicycle, b= ut I do not have to do both of them at the same time!

I am thankful that I do not need that new language teaching series that will hav= e me speaking Portuguese in ten easy weeks. What a great headline: Learn Portugu= ese today! Today? I would have to spend a year in Portugal or Brazil before I could get by. I am thankful that I do not need a language teaching tape to prove to me how un-disciplined I am!

Wha= t else is being touted this year as “Gotta have it”? I actually do not need a pick up t= ruck that has ten horsepower more than the one my neighbor has. It doesn’t need= to be six inches wider either. I am so thankful that I do not need a cell phone with two hundred different ring tones.

Thi= nk of all the things we do not need this year! I do not need to paint the kitchen another color. I do not need another sweater. I do not need another channel= on my cable television menu. I do not need to spend more money.

I s= imply do not need all this stuff that the world tells me constantly I do need. I am = thankful, so thankful, that I really don’t need it! What a liberating experienc= e it is to realize what I simply do not need. It makes me feel free! =

May= be this is what it is like to be close to the kingdom of God, where all is made new. When I realize how much I do not need, I am that much more free to acknowledge the simple wonders God has for me right now – the simple gifts like love and family, friends and community.

May= be this is what real thanksgiving feels like. Thanksgiving is freedom from the unne= cessary clutter of our lives, freedom from what we do not need, so that we can see = anew the simple gifts God has for each of us.

The= Very Reverend Samuel G. Candler

Dea= n of the Cathedral of St. Philip

20 = November 2007

Sam = Candler is Dean of the Cathedral of St. Philip in Atlanta, Georgia. Contact him at scandler@stphilipscathedra= l.org.
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