In the recent years its become very trendy to be a so-called “minimalist”, that is, someone who strives to only own the bare minimum. Growing up in a house where my father was always trying to be like the mennonites, the idea of minimalism has never been new to me. In fact, I used two find it obnoxious even before it was trendy. I wanted to get away from it. I loved interior decorating and fashion. At the same time, simplicity appealed to me because I was also a hippie at heart and Franciscan. I wasn’t sure If I was going to join a religious order after high school and so I tried not to become attached to materialism.
After college, I had sort of forgotten about my quest for simplicity. Deep down though, I knew this was how Christians are called to live. but it wasn't until my late 20’s after hearing a Christian talk on the radio about money that I was reminded of this and my mindset on materialism changed again. It was profound. Everything belongs to God, everything I own is His. Therefore, everything I own should be accounted for because it doesn’t belong to me, it belongs to Him.
It struck me after hearing this talk on the radio the quote I had modeled my organizational skills after from St. Maxmillian Kolbe, “Keep the order and the order will keep you.” How greatly this quote applies to the things we accumulate in our life! Everything you own carries weight and these things weigh on your conscience whether you are aware or not. Every single thing you own.
So when I am out at the store, I can look and enjoy but I always ask before I buy something, not “Do I need this?” but rather “Does God want me to have this? And for what purpose?”
