More on "Fluffy Towels"

The Fluffy towel post brought out only two kinds of comments, the haves and the have- nots of Fluffy Towels. Much negativity came from the haves. In each post I received as comment or in an email or by posting on their own blog, there seemed some need to justify their reason for having the Fluffy little things. I was a bit surprised by that because my post was a response to the many questions I have received asking HOW and WHY we live like we do. I just was explaining our WHY and trying to shed some light on our personal belief system regarding "things". One reference was made to the fact that well God blessed them with the money to buy all this stuff, so they HAD to use it. I wondered if that meant the folks without the fluffy towels are less blessed by God...then I thought some more....well, we are considered upper middle class income wise, well blessed financially I would say. For us, blessed with money to use to help others. So even without fluffy towels on the shelf, we are still blessed financially. It is our choice to live this way, and to be honest I don't care one bit if your linen closet is full of fluffy towels. That is your choice. I have yet to go to anyones blog and write they are judgemental, less blessed, wrong about their choices or otherwise in the way they live. I plan on never doing that either. I do say what my thoughts are on subjects, because this blog is my thoughts. I want to write about more than the fluffy towels of life... about how to live gently on this earth, how to touch the lives of those in need. I write about my doubts, my concerns and yes, my confusion about how to live my life the best that I can. To write about more than the day to day cooking and cleaning but not to exclude those elements of my life.
I want to write about how for us there is a higher calling, the calling to not live our lives just for our own self centered pursuits, but to mix it up with the beauty of helping our loved ones, our neighbors, the mothers with babies in their arms starving to death. To support people like Dr Bob http://morningramble.blogspot.com/2006/12/dr-bob.html who is making a difference in the lives of so many people. He probably doesn't have fluffy towels at his house.
Long time readers know I think about legacies, and what matters in the end, it is what motivates me to act a certain way and live a certain way. An example....say I die tomorrow, at my funeral will my legacy be...."oh my her house was beautiful and her towels so fluffy, I heard she gave once to an orphanage" or would I rather hear...." she lived simply....and was motivated by these verses.....

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. Matthew 25: 35

That is my motivation....its not intended as a lecture here, or a sermon but simply a fact that I would rather buy medicine for a neighbor than have fluffy towels. If I still had money left over after buying the medicine, I would rather buy thanksgiving dinner for a family down the road than have the towels. Not for some great reward at the end or even to have nice words said at my funeral, that wasn't the point about a legacy... the legacy is for me to show my children an example that I can in good conscience feel is the higher road. I want to live simply so that I can by way of choice have more resources to end the suffering I see. If there was no God, no just reward sort of thing, I would still want to help others rather than fill my own house up with stuff. It seems the humane thing to do in my mind. Maybe I was called to live this way. I feel that way.

My mother was an amazing generous person, I learned well from her. Our house growing up was open to all. No one knocked at the door, they just came in as if it was there home too. Not sure how my mother did it but there was always enough food for everyone that stopped by unannounced. When she passed away, the city and its no small city, proclaimed a day of morning for her. People still talk about her kindnesses and she has been gone for over 2 decades. There never were fluffy towels in our house growing up.

Fluffy towels can of course be many things in our lives ! Even going out to eat : )

my most fluffy wal-mart towels !