Have you ever honestly asked yourself if you own certain things because you get pleasure out of them or if you own them to show them off ? Perhaps its a bit of both. I am not talking about the utilitarian items we have in our homes, but the "things", the collections. The things we buy that excite us as we "hunt" for them, but then the thrill is quickly gone as they sit on the shelf or on the hutch or in the closet. Did we perhaps buy them to show them off or was it something more ? I can freely admit to purchasing things to get the expected "oooohs and awwws" as guest see them. Fancy china, a collection of wooden shoes, old linens, etc. Lots of things. But in my growth as a person I can see the vanity and stupidity of purchasing things to make me look better or appear more something. Its a total waste of money when there is such need in the world. And in time, all things become just that, things. My wooden shoes for instance, they cost me about $100 for all of them. That $100 if spent more wisely with humanity in mind, even if on books for me to improve the me I am, would have been more wisely spent, but what if I bought a weeks groceries for a family in need with that. That may have made a life long change in someone's life. What if I used that $100 to pay for gas for a week for a family finding it hard to get to work due to the price of fuel these days ? That kind of spending would change me more than buying wooden shoes don't you think ?
Does my tea taste better out of a $2.00 tea cup from a thrift store or out of the $25.00 cup bought in a fancy store ?
In sharing time with a friend, which matters most, the way the table is set or the conversation ?
I look at my wooden shoes now and see opportunities missed.
A reminder to weigh and measure the worth, the true worth of things.
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