You can't get something for nothing.
You get what you pay for.
You can't always get what you want.
Anything worth having is worth working for.
These are expressions that we have learned growing up, and they convey a basic message inherent to our human condition - it's all about me, and what I can get or have. These sayings don't speak about relationship - they speak about ownership and possession. Ever seen the bumper sticker "He who dies with the most toys wins?" We are a consumer-driven people - never satisfied. Why else would companies like Microsoft, Apple, Nintendo, Sony and the likes continue to put out the latest and greatest version or product? Why else would there be such fervor and anticipation at the Christmas season for the next game system, or the latest version of Halo or Guitar Hero? We want, and we want, and in the end...we are never satisfied. Never. Ever.
It takes more than stuff to give us peace and rest in the deepest part of our being. It takes more than a career, a house, a car, a vacation, a website, a blog, a church, a title, and the list goes on. If those things really did satisfy, we could "stop." Stop buying. Stop pursuing. Stop lusting. Stop wanting. Consumerism is like a drug, and many of us are addicted and don't know how to break the cycle.
As I sit here typing this blog on our new computer, my consumerism stares me in the face. My love for writing and receiving letters has been replaced by blogging. I am writing this as much for myself as for others. Humans, unlike animals, have depth of language and expression that is only limited by our desire to communicate and have relationship. But....our stuff gets in the way, doesn't it? There's no need to communicate and relate if we have our laptop, cell phone, HD TV and satellite hookup, high speed internet, WiFi cafe, Bluetooth, Jawbone, XM Radio, Iphone, Ipod....and the list goes on. We trick ourselves into believing all this stuff helps us communicate - but we're missing the face-to-face. We're shortcutting. We're using abbreviations and slang and emoticons, when really we should be sitting across a table having a cup of coffee.
In our quest for better, faster, smaller technology, we have devalued the one thing that should matter most - people. We leave voicemails, text messages, and send emails. We don't have to talk - our machines do it for us. In the old days, a boss would have his secretary "take a letter." He had to communicate to her (yes, that's how it was), and she then prepared the communication to the ultimate recipient. It involved people, people...does anyone out there hear me?
Have you ever taken an "unplugged" vacation or retreat? It's a fascinating experience because, guess what...we can all live and survive, even thrive, without our technology right at our fingertips. We can find out just how lonely and depraved we are inside. And if we do this with others, we can actually find so many other ways to "be". All of a sudden, people begin interacting, talking, laughing, sharing, and our hearts and souls are so, so grateful for the human connection.
There's another level to this rest our souls seek out, one that goes beyond the connection with other people. Getting back to my sayings at the beginning...you CAN get something for nothing. The Great Exchange is all about trading in our junk for something everlasting. Taking our broken dreams, dashed hopes, hate, anger and other emotional baggage and giving them to a Creator who offers peace, hope, forgiveness, and everlasting life. God says "come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest." We have to come. We have to let go of our junk. And he in turns gives us what we can't get, buy or achieve on our own. It goes deep into our soul - that part of us that is unexplainable via science, medicine, physics or logic. It is our compass that points true north - to the God of heaven and earth. It is not satisfied until we have opened our clenched fist and let the sand of our disappointment and hurt slip through...only then can our hand be filled with grace and mercy. It warms us to the core and satisfies our deepest longing - to be truly connected and loved unconditionally. It is a great exchange. It cannot be done on a cell phone, over the internet, in a voice mail, or even in a blog. It is a personal invitation and encounter with the living God. Won't you come?
