Essentials

This has been due to be written for quite some time.  You may have remembered how I had to postpone it because of an outpouring on the issue of injustices and the like.  This is entry is based on some of the activities I’ve been up to at work.  We do these pre-designed modules in an effort to build the abilities of those that we serve.

One such module was laughably on Money Matters.  Now it was laughable only in the sense (I was going to write cents, but that would only work in America and they’re still learning what irony is) that of all people to tutor a serious level-headed series on money matters, the likes of me should do that.  Let me put it this way, there’s a reason why I’m not the Governor of the Bank of England, or Cameron hasn’t yet got around to appointing me as the new Chancellor of the Exchequer.

One activity that I really enjoyed in the module and something that I’ve done on and off in my 15 years of youth work, is getting people to outline what they spend their money on.  Having listed their spending habits we then go about finding out which are essential and which are non-essential.  It was great fun again to see how people debated what was to them essential.  For some, they couldn’t live without their music and would do without quite a lot to maintain and replenish their music collection.  The clothes deal also aroused some passionate responses from people especially those who were very defensive of their shows, and that wasn’t just the girls.

The best point of discussion (he says diplomatically) was around the payment of the TV license and by proxy the necessity of a television in the house, (forget the importance of a decent digital subscription).  In all my years of doing the exercise without fail, groups of young people have defended how essential it is to have the television.  The very thought that it wouldn’t be essential was received in the same way that they would receive a latest scientific survey that suggested that breathing was actually not essential to living.

Yet in one gold class, where they had suggested other material amenities were essential to living, this group of savvy young people were fairly quick to say the TV wasn’t essential.  Paying the TV license was not essential and having a TV was not that crucial to living.  In fact there were comments that talked about just how creative and engaging life could be without a television.  The things we could do, the people we could visit, the relationships we could develop, the lives we could live without the ‘electronic demon’ hogging attention.

It was a breath of fresh air to hear young people reach a mature conclusion to something that never clicked in with me until the early 20’s.  Your argument could be, but Christopher, look at the amount of time you spend on the computer.  Believe it or not, even that has been reduced and as much as I know the laptop is pretty important for what I do and feel is part of me vocation, I’m fairly comfortable at going for long stretches without it.  There is more than enough to keep me going, even when the girls aren’t demanding attention or the wife isn’t requiring that special time together, I know there’s enough buzzing around in my head and my heart to keep me quite content and occupied.

That mentality didn’t come automatically, but it’s been helped a great deal with that larger issue of what in life is to be counted among the essentials.  This relationship with God deal is fun because of how much communication is required to make it work effectively.  With that in mind (literally) the charge of needing to have a TV to fill my mind with junk to veg out or whatever is somewhat bizarre.  The idea of needing to catch up with the latest episode of whatever, is also slightly askew for me.  It did take me a while, but I got the hint that what is essential is anything that leads to a greater relationship with Jesus and the things of His Father’s Kingdom.  That’s not 24/7 Christian television, or head plunged in the Bible.  That could take in a few telly programmes, but the essential is that which pleases Him.  That time spent cultivating the key relationships in life, that which sharpens the mind, equips the body, moulds the heart and stimulates the spirit to see what kind of abundant life Jesus had in mind.

I don’t always remember that, and get caught up and consumed with relative trivialities, but I ask for the grace to trust Him more to steer and guide me to focus on the essentials.

(Photo by Panos Sakalakis on Unsplash)

For His Name’s Sake

Shalom

dmcd