Affluenza
As many of you know, I just recovered from influenza. It is amazing how quickly one of God's little creatures can alter your reality so completely. By the way, I do appreciate everyone's prayers and concern. The recent stories of the lastest oubreak of influenza has everyone concerned.
While I was laid up, I had time to think about another pandemic that threatens us, especially at this time of year-afluenza. (a coined term meaning the need to have more material possessions and the belief that such abundance will bring happiness. Afluenza = affluence)
Now, I don't really think that more stuff will make me happier, Yet, I do have a thing for gadgets.
Certainly, most of the gadgets that I ever owned eventually broke or lost their appeal. Still, a new gadget holds the promise of a more care-free and possilbly more efficient life.
My dear wife recently gave me a PDA as a gift. For those who don't know what a PDA is, its a small handheld device that has a calendar and other time management programs. I have all of your phone numbers and addresses in it. I have even put the Jordanville prayer book and a copy of the Holy Bible in it. Its a facinating gadget.
Of course, I don't think that Matushka gave it to me for entertainment. I think she gave it in the hope that it I will be less forgetful of my commitments and better organized.
Only time will tell.
I heard a comedian comment that in the old days, people had heartburn, and treated it with 25 cents worth of Alka-Seltzer. Now, we have "acid reflux" and have to treat it with expensive prescriptions and pills
In the old days, we used calendars. Now, we need PDA's. What has happened to us? I guess that it is the way of things.
The Church never lets us get by with anything. Right in the midst of our preparations for Nativity, with decorating and gift giving, we hear again the Scriptural story of the man who was prosperous and built ever larger barns to hold his stuff. He seemed to have suffered from afluenza.
Once the man had enough stuff he said, "Ah, now I can relax, take it easy, and enjoy myself." The only problem was that very night he was going to die. God says to him, "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee, then whose shall those things be?"
This is a story that you hear quite often. People work hard all their lives just so that one day they will be secure enough to retire and not worry. Yet, often, within weeks or months of retirement, these people fall ill and die.
Was it so wrong for this man to prosper and to work for security? Actually, that isn't the point of the story at all. The point is that while he was building bigger barns, he forgot that there were other places when he could have stored his excess. There were the stomachs of the poor around him that could have stored some of the extra blessing that he had received. You see, under the influence of afluenza, he could never say "enough." We are never able to say it either. Can we ever say "Thank you, Lord, for the blessings of my life. Thank you. This is enough, I don't need anything more, but if you give me more, I will share it?"
No, we want more, we need more, we must have more for ourselves. We suffer from afluenza.
Any questions? Have your PDA contact my PDA!
-Fr. John