Things! (Fall 1999)

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(Originally written in the Fall of 99: many of our things had been stolen during shipping, and many things were in need of repair or replacement in our house)

 

Things! Material things!

 

Things that are concrete, not the abstract idea type of things, but things you can touch and feel!

 

It is quite the paradox here how things have become both more important, and less important.  As we see people around us without things, we realize how much we have, and how little we really “need”.  We are learning to do without the things that we simply can not buy here.  And when things are used up, worn out, corroded beyond use, lost or stolen; that’s just part of life here.  There is no reason to fret (at least not very much!).

 

But at the same time, things are much more valuable here.  Although they may join the category of “used up, worn out, corroded beyond use, lost or stolen” tomorrow, while we have them today, we appreciate them more deeply, care for them, and maintain them, since we can’t run out and replace them very easily.

 

It is indeed an interesting shift in perspective.  It has helped us focus all the more on that which is really important, that which is eternal, that for which Christ died: People!

 

Dave Drozek with

 

Thoughts from Honduras

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