No, I am talking about all the wealth we have. “We” being the general populace. This morning Deena passed on an email from a Google Group that our entire neighborhood belongs to. One of residents caught a man going through her trash can and recycling at the curb (its trash day). She chased him off and then sent out a warning to the other residents. /sighI very much remember a time when Deena and I had no money and worried about our next meal. It is a humbling experience and a scary one. With unemployment as high as it is and the economy in shambles and getting worse day by day, that poor man is doing what he can to survive, and most likely for his family too. He is going through our waste to see what he can salvage

Deena’s reply to that email above really expresses our feelings on the matter:

“My heart breaks for him. I think it’s our job to try to help preserve the dignity of those less fortunate. He’s already digging through the trash… things that we don’t want/need… but he does. I’m so thankful that we are not forced to do that to survive… but situations can change in a flash. We are so blessed…. I hope we never forget that.”

It makes me wonder when enough really is enough. How much wealth is needed to feel like we have “arrived”? I find myself thinking of our full pantries, our refrigerators filled with food. The security and safety of our homes. We flip a switch and have instant electricity. We turn a knob and get fresh, safe water. There are SO many that do not have those things, things we might consider “basic necessities”. I am not going to enter into a debate on what is needed and what isn’t. That is for each person to decide for themselves.

But perhaps the next time we find ourselves frustrated over trivial things, we can take a step back and remember just how blessed we are. Many states, including our Colorado, are on fire … people loosing their homes, their memories, their dreams. It starts to bring things into perspective for me.

We are in the process of selling or donating things we don’t need or use, basically reducing our furniture and “things” by more than half. I am definitely not saying we are the end all, be all. But it is a lifestyle choice that we are moving to and we are finding it suits us quite well. Doing more with less.

Ultimately, it is our sincere hope that the farm will produce in abundance so we can help support one of the local homeless shelters or help families in need. It is one of the driving forces behind what we are doing.

For me personally, this quote from Kingdom of Heaven sums it up nicely:

“What man is a man who does not make the world better.”  – Balian of Ibelin