Minimalism

The last two weeks in chapel at our school, we have been looking at how we can advocate on behalf of those who have less than us and at the challenge to be a minimalist. The fact that 1 million people pre-ordered the iPhone 4S got me thinking about how we are (I am) addicted to 'things'.

'Advertising treats all products with the reverence and the seriousness due to sacraments.' Thomas Merton
Merton's premise is that advertising elevates every product so that it is able to save us – save us from ourselves, our boredom, our anxiety, our insecurities, our fears.

'Man has become a tool of his tools.' Henry David Thoreau
Thoreau suggests that instead of owning 'things', our things own us, that we have lost control of ourselves and allowed the soulless to own our soul.

What's a minimalist? A minimalist is one who takes the conscious decision to live without things, to take seriously the idea of enough, not more, and to share the excess with those without as much. It is a form of advocacy for the betterment of creation, the poor and our wellbeing.

Some websites: http://www.theminimalists.com/
http://zenhabits.net/on-minimalism/

The challenge to our students and to ourselves is to take seriously the responsibility God gave us in Genesis to care for creation, and Jesus gives us to love our neighbour as ourselves, and live simply.

Worth thinking about!