The Necessity Short List
The banking system worldwide is in trouble. Some banks are in more trouble than others, but the whole system has an uncertainty to it — and will for a while. When I hear news like that, I shift into my college student gear. I remember what it was like to live much more simply and to live by the short necessity list. I have two necessity lists: one for when there is a good cash flow; one for when there are cash limitations.
When your economic system is threatened, there is a little voice in the back of your head that asks, “What do I really need?” I make a list, then shorten it, depending on the circumstances. When I moved to South Carolina a few years ago, I had some money in a checking account, an old pickup, and personal items that would fit in two large suitcases. There I was at 49 years of age. That was it. However, I lacked nothing that I really needed. The adventure of it was priceless.
Simplicity is not poverty. It is priority. Jesus spent a lot of time with no income and nothing but the clothes he was wearing. He never ceased to give thanks for his lot in life. That is the model. He blessed the poor, but not because they were merely without money. He considered them blessed because they experienced a deep sense of dependence. One feeling leaves, another appears. Panic is replaced by trust. Insecurity caves into confidence. Limitations become hope.
Have some faith in being human. The necessity short list is not hard to fill. Most of it is a given in reality. Air, water, enough to eat, friends, work (paid or voluntary), a night’s sleep, the sky, some clothing — that is pretty much the essence of the list. Only a few of the items depend much on my own actions. With a little imagination, any life adjustment can be made. A little grief helps the process along. A little gratitude grounds it and gives it a smile.
Jesus kept telling his followers that it was all going to be all okay. Grasping that and living it is the life of faith.
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