3:55 PM
In the home goods section of most department stores, you can find generic plaques with inspirational words like, �Family�Love�Memories� written in fancy scroll.
The other day I was walking through a Target in Portland when I saw one of these cream-colored plaques with black cursive writing. Except instead of �Family�Love�Memories,� it said, �Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.�
Only in Portland does the word �Recycle� make it into artwork, I thought.
The plaque makes for a tacky decoration, but I appreciate the thoughtfulness behind it, especially since I�ve been thinking recently about a Christian�s response to consumerism. Living in Portland where values like stewardship, conservation, and frugality are widely practiced makes this endeavor easier.
When I first began thinking about the implications of my spending habits, my initial response was guilt. I felt very, very guilty about where I shopped, what I bought, and the wages that people were paid to produce these goods. And that�s where my response started and stopped. Just feeling guilty, about most things, most of the time.
And then I began to feel guilty about feeling guilty and it got really ugly.
I think guilt is a common response, especially for people who have been brought up in a punitive religious culture where feeling guilty seems to be the actual chief end of man.
The problem is that feeling guilty is not a helpful response to anything. If it doesn�t change your heart or your actions, what does it matter?
But then there�s conviction, which is the healthy alternative to guilt. Conviction recognizes that a behavior or an action has caused someone grief or harm, and this knowledge becomes the driving force for change.
Instead of being paralyzed by guilt, I�m trying to respond in practical ways to genuine conviction.
My best friend studied home economics in college, and she has been a great resource. She has useful insights into what it could look like to live out the concept that, �Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.�
We talked about clothes shopping, and she suggested that instead of getting brand new clothes from the store, I go to thrift stores and consignment shops to get things second-hand.
I bought a townhouse earlier this year, and we spent a long time brainstorming about the most responsible way to furnish my new home.
She suggested that I start furniture shopping at garage sales, thrift shops, or even antique stores. This practice is essentially recycling old furniture, which is environmentally responsible. And getting used furniture also means I�m not directly increasing the demand for new goods from stores who get their labor from cheap international factories.
We even had a conversation about the best way to dress the windows in my new place. �It�s smart to use curtains rather than blinds,� she said, �Because you can repurpose the fabric when you don�t need the curtains anymore.�
I�ve been trying to apply these principles over the past few months. And when I become convicted about another area of my life that could be more intentional, I call my friend and we brainstorm some more.
I think in our online community, the brainstorming needs to continue as we �spur one another on towards love and good deeds.�
And soon we may discover that it�s not just our curtains or our furniture or our clothes that are repurposed, but our minds and our hearts and our souls.
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