In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, He made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! Philippians 2:5-8
“I am thinking of John Woolman, an eighteenth-century American Quaker who had a successful retail business and gave it up because he felt it kept him from clearly seeing something that disturbed him: slavery. He came to see how money stood in the way of clear perception of injustice: people who had a lot of property and land needed slaves to maintain them (or so these folks reasoned).
He saw the same problem with his own reasoning. . . whenever he looked at an injustice in the world he always saw it through his own eye, his own situation and benefit. . . . Once he reduced his own level of prosperity, he could see the clear links between riches and oppression. He wrote: “Every degree of luxury has some connection with evil.” Reduction of his lifestyle gave him insight into the difference between “needs” and “wants,” something our insatiable consumer culture has made it almost impossible to recognize. . . .
To empty the self is not an act of denial, but of fulfillment, for it creates space for God to fill one’s being. We are satisfied by nothing less than God; our deepest desire is to be one with God, even as Jesus was. Made in the image of God, our destiny is to become one with God, so that we too can say, not my will but God’s be done. This is not a loss, but again, the greatest gain.
John Woolman as quoted by Richard Rohr in “Curbing our Appetites” blog post by the Center for Action and Contemplation dated 24 September 2021.
I gave remarks at a memorial service yesterday. A long time friend had passed away and gone to be with Jesus. Afterwards I was in the lobby of the church talking to someone I had not seen in years. We talked about the freedom of simplifying as we journey toward our eternal home.
I knew that whatever we own, owns us, and leads to slavery. But I never thought about traveling light through life as a pathway to fulfillment until I read this post. It’s spot on.
Of course, the Apostle Paul said it to the Philippians. When we make ourselves nothing, we position ourselves to receive from God that which satisfies. And when we share this it is rich act of generosity because it offers others the fulfillment we are all looking for.