Quinn told me recently about an article he read about the “stratification” of society and their eating… “habits?” for lack of a better word. The lower class is mostly concerned with quantity of food, the middle class=quality, and the upper class=presentation. Now this got me thinking about whether or not this applies to other things, like jobs, clothes, houses, etc. How often does this apply?
This also got me thinking about my personal issue with this type of “labeling”. I hate it. I don’t agree with it. The very terms “lower” and “upper” denote levels of quality, which I don’t agree with. Ghandi and Mother Theresa qualify as “upper class” to me, yet out of choice, they occupied society’s lowest social tier.
It also got me thinking…in what things am I concerned with quantity? In what things, quality? In what things, presentation? (if any, on that last one :).) I further thought: “Where do I want to be?” I want to live simply, free from the pressure of materialism. Does that mean giving up "quality" sometimes? Ghandi gave up spices, striving to free himself from the obsession with taste and the sophistication that he felt went along with that. I am no Ghandi, but what is the principle? When we spend our time and money obsessing over quality and presentation of material things, do we sacrifice quality and presentation in more important matters that are seemingly immaterial? For instance, do we sacrifice family time, connections with our neighbors, cultivating our intellect when we spend hours and hours creating "quality" in lifestyle, physical appearance, or presentation? On the other hand, God worked hard to create beauty in even the small things...things of quality. At what point is it valuable and beautifying, and at what point is it meaningless? Different answers for different situations and different people? Probably :). Sounds like another area for individualized "follow the Spirit" type action!
As I thought about Ghandi, it struck me how much he focused on fostering independence among his people, starting with independence from the English economically. Ghandi taught them to harvest their own salt, sew their own clothes, produce their own food, for he knew that in this was the seed to freedom. It made me think about our society. If we seek to be truly free, we must be free from dependence upon our government or our economy. If we know how to grow, harvest and preserve our own food, make and clean our own clothes, clean up our own messes, and live on what we can produce, even if we choose into the economic conveniences of our society, we are not bound to them or paralyzed in the face of economic challenges. How vital it is that we know how to live within our means, use our resources, and tighten up our belts when the times are challenging!
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