Written by: gfesadmin on January 24, 2013

For almost four years the family and I lived in the city of Lancaster.  Like most city living, we tried to get outside in the fresh air as much as possible.  During that season of life one of my weekly traditions was taking Grace and Eli on a Sunday afternoon bike ride for a daddy date.  So many good memories!  One time I remember Grace randomly hitting her brakes and coming to a dead stop in front of me.  We both ended up on the pavement, #!@*. But even more memorable was day Eli pointed out the garbage.  See, our traditional bike route lead us out of the ghetto we lived in, across the tracks and into an upscale white collar high end neighborhood.  It just so happened that trash day was Monday and everyone would place their garbage at the curb during the time of our ride.  One day in particular, we came around the corner and there it was.  A vintage “Radio Flyer” scooter in perfect condition laying out with someones discarded garbage.  It was to good to be true. Well, of course we took it home with us. And it didn’t stop there, over the next three years our Sunday afternoon rides yielded three bikes, two scooters, a Foosball table, a light and the very antique desk I am sitting at to type this post.  Eli said one-day, “It’s like they never use this stuff, they simply buy it, use it once or twice and then simply discard it with the garbage.”

This past week while reading Being Consumed by William T. Cavanaugh I was struck by his claim that consumer cultures are characterized by detachment rather than attachment. Through the hyper use of fixing value based upon the ability to buy and sell goods, the actual goods no longer have intrinsic value, but rather have simply become objects in a larger game.  Once an object can no longer be sold for money, “its value”, detachment gives way to moving the object to the curb.

Attachment gives way to Detachment?… The New Consumer…

People do not hoard money; they spend it…  Cavanaugh suggests that we have entered an era where consumers have begun to find their identity by the actual act of buying.  No longer does it have anything to do with what has been purchased.  A few years ago while working at a local hospital, my supervisor shared with me that she had spent all of her salary for the year.  I looked at her and said, “Seriously!”.  I knew at the time she was making over six figures in U.S. currency.  She looked back at me and said, “My husband pays all the bills with his salary, my money is fun money, I just enjoy buying things”.

People do not cling to things; they discard them… Since the consumer is already detached from the product, interest diminishes quickly. According to the New York times in a 2012 article, formats such as the local Merchandiser, Ebay and Craigslist have allowed consumers to regain some monetary value out of objects owned prior to discarding.  If the product does not sell, often these items are discarded in following weeks garbage.

People then buy other things… The thrill is no longer about owning, but rather the high experienced during the purchase.  The day we picked up the Foosball table, the gentlemen who was placing it out for the garbage simply said, “We never played, so I thought it might be good to buy a pool table which we probably won’t play either!  He paused, then laughed at what he had just said and walked away”.

Questions to ponder…

Is it possible to not get caught up in the consumption of goods? 

Have we become consumers of people in our ministries?

Are we living lives of detachment from the very people we have been called to care for?

Do we care for the souls of those entrusted to us, or simply discard them when they are no use to us?

A few weeks ago my wife shared a video with me focused on a slum built on a landfill in Cateura Paraguay.  The story in this video speaks of a people group, mainly made up of children who have chosen to make something out of what has been discarded.  I believe their story for you will capture the paradox of the discarded by some finds value to others.  Watch and enjoy.

For almost four years Eli and Grace road that “Radio Flyer” scooter.  Great times, many bruises, lots of scraps and when outgrown, simply gave it to a younger child of dear friends we knew at the time.

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