a radical challenge

one morning earlier this week, i found myself standing in front of my bathroom mirror annoyed with how i looked. my hair, makeup, and outfit -- nothing made me feel cute. at that moment, i thought to myself that if we actually had any money, i'd buy a few new clothes and feel cute again. later that day, i saw a facebook status that kind of rocked my world. becca, a fellow ethiopia adoption mom who goes to our church, announced that she was starting a self-imposed fast from consumerism for the next year. she is not buying clothes, shoes, or other accessories (including jewelry) for an entire year.

now, let me say that i've actually considered doing a similar fast. i don't say that to pat myself on the back because, obviously, i haven't had the guts to take the plunge yet. but as we have struggled to find funds for our adoption, i've started to realize that we all spend our money in very futile ways. the thing i wonder is whether i'll think the same way once our adoption is completed and we're not counting every penny. we have these great goals of teaching our children that one of our society's greatest lies is that a person needs a lot of stuff to be happy. we want to instill in them contentedness and generosity and thankfulness. and yet, when we're not having to worry about the $800 we need to send here and the $2500 we need to send there, i have to wonder if we'll get sucked back into the consumeristic, materialistic culture in which we live. will we fail to be good models for our children in this area because we forget what we have learned thus far? i pray not.

that's why the challenge of becca's fast seems so urgent to me right now. she has a lot of great things to say about how women find their value and self-worth in clothing and appearance. from her point of view, it's ridiculous that women are convinced that a new outfit is the answer to happiness and acceptance in society. and she's completely right. how many times have i worried that other women wouldn't accept me because my clothes weren't cute or cool or "name-brand" enough? (if you want to read becca's thoughts, she just blogged about this at http://expandingalbertsons.wordpress.com/) BUT, where this really hits home for me is in the idea of solidarity and the transformation of one's heart. here's how most people respond when someone says "i'm not going to buy X because there are children dying in africa": "well, just because you don't spend your money on X doesn't mean a child in africa will be saved. you should just buy X because that $20 can't save anybody." do you know how far from the truth that is? when you stand in solidarity with someone and begin to understand their plight, i'm pretty sure it starts to change your heart and then your habits.

in fasting from consumerism, one stands in solidarity with all those around the world who do not have a choice to buy new clothes at the start of every season...those who live in such poverty that clothing is often a luxury...those who can't worry about whether their clothes make them feel cute because worrying about being cute is a waste of willpower that needs to be used towards living through another day. by standing in solidarity and understanding their plight, i'm convinced that we start making major changes to how we live and what we think we need. by going without, we might realize that it's actually possible to go without and still be content. by going without, we might realize that the money we don't spend buying clothes (or whatever your stuff of choice may be) can actually go towards saving a life. $20 could a buy mosquito net to protect a family 4 in africa from malaria. that net could literally save their lives. a great example of how this works is if you knew it was wrong of you gossip so you committed not to gossip for a week. you'd spend most of the week being ever-conscious of what was coming out of your mouth and using a lot of your willpower to not say something about somebody else. but by the end of the week, you might notice that you're not having to use so much willpower anymore. it's actually natural for you not to gossip. that is the change of heart. no more is it a conscious decision, but rather it has become a way of life.

a lot of people might think a fast like becca's is legalistic. how do you know how much money is the right amount to spend on clothes? how do you know what stores are right to shop at? are name-brands really that bad? normally, i would write a section about how i don't think all shopping or all consumerism is bad. but i'm not going to do that because sometimes i think it coddles people. they read all the hard stuff, and then you start giving disclaimers that can easily become people's way out. this is radical stuff. when i told jamie that becca started this fast, he said "man, i couldn't do that." and knowing that i've often said "i wish i could do that," i told him that the reason we all say these things is because we know it's the right thing to do but we don't want to do it so we couch it in ways that sound like we're being holy enough to consider it ("i wish i could do that") yet don't ever actually get around to it. there's a good chance i will take the plunge and here's why: i've been contemplating if i have enough stuff to make it through the year without buying more clothes and shoes (let me claim now that i certainly have more than enough stuff). i then thought that i could go out and buy some more stuff if i didn't think i could see the fast to the end. WOW. if that thought process doesn't show how much i need to do this fast, nothing else could.