FOODFORTHOUGHT

By Marjorie Holmes, "Hold Me Up A Little Longer, Lord"

DEAR LORD,

Help me not to put much stock in possessions, Lord. Mere possessions.

I want things, sure I want things. Life seems to be a continual round of wanting things, from the first toys we fight over as children, on through our thrilled counting of the wedding presents...Not primarily love and friends and pride in what we can do, but things.

Sometimes I'm ashamed of how much I want things. For my husband and the house and the children. Yes, and for myself. And this hunger is enhanced every time I turned on the TV or walk through the shopping mall. My senses are tormented by the dazzling world of things.

Lord, cool this fires of wanting. Help me to realize how futile is this passion for possession. Because--and this is what strips my values to the bone -- one of my best friends died today in the very midst of her possessions.

The beautiful home she and her husband worked so hard to achieve, finally finished; furnished the way she wanted it, with the best of everything...The oriental rugs she was proud of. The formal French sofas. The paintings. The china and glass and handsome silver service...She has been snatched away, while silently, almost cruelly, they remain.

Lord, I grieve for my friend. My heart hurts that she had so little time to enjoy her things. Things she had earned and that meant so much to her. But let me learn something from this loss:

The possessions are meant to enhance life, not to become the main focus of living. That we come into the world with nothing, we leave with nothing.

Help me not to put much stock in mere possessions, Lord.

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You'll find at the journey's end,
Things don't matter much anymore;
For all things do fade away,
Save all that we offered to the Lord.