While walking this evening, this discarded couch caught my eye. While looking at this couch, I was reminded how simply Heather and I live our lives and yet we live abundantly compared to most in this world.
It occured to me that with the exception of our bed, all of our furniture has been handed down to us. A walking tour of our place would be a history lesson in the lives of other people’s belongings. I guess Heather and I have never much considered if that matched this or if this went with that. I suppose we never found it too important. Our place is humble to be sure and yet I am keenly aware how much more richly we live compared to most of humanity. The truth is, we have too much stuff and we are too comfortable. The thing is I like being comfortable and the prospect of discomfort is not appealing to me.
Yet, I am constantly reminded how abundant my life is while others struggle in ways that are mostly foreign to me. It unsettles me.
There is a popular movement within certain circles of the Christian faith that preaches what is being called the Gospel of Prosperity or something like that. The gist of the message is that God wants us to be prosperous. So as good Christians we ought to be highly prosperous and take joy in that fact. However, this notion seems contradictory to the life that Jesus lived and the words he spoke. He was a man who lived humbly and said things like, “give all you have to the poor” and that “it is harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle.” Whether Jesus met these things literally or not I suppose is debatable. Truthfully, the notion of selling all I have and giving to the poor is in part unappealing to me as it would mean the sacrifice of my comforts. Whatever Jesus could have meant by these words, I have to conclude what he didn’t mean was for us to reach for and be filled with riches, sit back and be happy about it all.
Indeed my comfort (or riches) often is a roadblock to me emptying myself to dedicate to those who are the least of us. I wonder if a curious camel will be staring back at me through the eye of the needle wondering how I am ever going to pass through.
6 comments in “Discarded: Mustard Couch”
March 20th, 2008 at 21:45
thanks for being vulnerable about a touchy subject like “stuff.” I can relate to the unsettledness you described — I too wonder what laying down our lives for others really looks like, and I certainly don’t do it well very often . Things like “stuff” and my commitment to comfort are big hurdles to get over. it was good of you to hold that out in front of us, in a humble way. thanks.
March 21st, 2008 at 9:28
Again, Andrew – your words are just as perfect as your pictures.
As Jodie said, “thank you” – thank you for your thoughtful words to make us think!
March 21st, 2008 at 16:23
this picture and your writing is beautiful. ted murphy told me that you had made a book using blurb. is that true? were you happy with the way it came out?
March 22nd, 2008 at 8:10
Hi Kate,
Thanks for your comment.
To answer you question, yes I have made a book using Blub. The quality is pretty fantastic. Granted you have to make sure the color and tonality of the images are good on your end. If you do that, the output is really one of the best I have seen and rivals that of picture books you would find in bookstores. People often comment to me how amazing the quality of my book is (even though they like my images, they mean the print quality). I would highly recommend them.
Another service to look into for book making is LULU.com. You can even get an ISBN through them so that you can sell your books in stores.
It’s really an exciting time to be a photographer these days with all these options for us to self publish. Since the market for photographers are more and more difficult these days—being able to self publish your stuff is becoming more and more important.
March 23rd, 2008 at 8:27
Your words sit very well with me for I have often wondered the same things. I often wonder if I should die today would I get to see Jesus. Would I make it into Heaven? Thanks for such an awesome read.
March 23rd, 2008 at 8:59
Thanks for your thoughts Bobbie. I think the only hope I have in this world is the fact that God’s unrelenting love is far more gripping than the realities of my own failures. My brother Dave made a fantastic video a month or so ago that speaks to this unrelenting love. Check it out HERE
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