"We North Americans don't need to do that because we can store it for ourselves. So it keeps us more and more inside our houses where everything is mine, and it needs to be protected from you. OUr politics of scarcity and individual repsonsibility leads us to become more and more isolated, independent and competetive."(R. Rohr "Radical Grace" p. 302)
The above quote follows Fr. Rohr relaying how in Guatamalan villages, food is shared house to house. Because there's no tupperware, refrigerators etc. You have to eat the food pretty much right away.
When I go to my refrigerator, sometimes I find things that I forgot I put in there. We jokingly will call these fuzzy former foods, science experiments. But the reality is that we cooked to much, and because we've lost sight of being neighbors, we put it away, that will taste just as good tomorrow, but it usually just gets forgotten.
We do it with other things too. Holding on to stuff that is no longer of use to us, but still usable, you never know when you might need it. Instead of giving it away. Seeing who might have a need of it. How much more room could we have in our lives if we started just giving things away?
I love when a neighbor has something and just offers it to me. I like the connection that is made. I love when I can do the same for another person. What would our society be like if everything wasn't always what's best for me and who cares about the rest?
Blessings,
Ed
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