President’s Day

Today is President’s Day in the United States. When I was growing up we remembered the birthdays of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, but now it is just another reason for some people to get a day off and another excuse for sales. This is not surprising in a country in which we celebrate the birth of a peasant child in the Middle East with an orgy of consumption called Christmas.

I’m not a scrooge about Christmas, or President’s Day for that matter; I just wonder what becomes of us when shopping is how we celebrate those who have had the biggest impact on our world. Is this how we honor what we value? I don’t know about you, but I feel a nagging that just might be the Spirit calling me to a different way.

Anglican cleric, the late John Stott wrote:

Simplicity is the first cousin of contentment. Its motto is “We brought nothing into this world and we can certainly carry nothing out.” It recognizes that we are pilgrims. It concentrates us on that we need, and measures this by what we use. It rejoices in the good things of creation, but hates waste and greed and clutter. It knows how easily the seed of the Word, is smothered by the “cares and riches of this life.” It wants to be free of distractions, in order to love and serve God and others.

I grew up in a lower-middle-class family with parents who grew up in genuine poverty. It has taken me many years to recognize all of the ways that reality has shaped my life. My mother loves shoes because, when she was little, her mother was a wonderful seamstress and made her beautiful clothes, but she could not make her shoes. So my mother’s shoes were not stylish like the other girls.

Growing up with gay sensibilities, I am aware that my family’s financial circumstances prevented me from wearing the fashions of my peers. Knowing that has freed me from some of my compulsion, but I still have too many shirts in my closet.

Unless we can find what drives us to be such consumers we will continue to try to honor presidents and messiahs by shopping. Surely there is a better way to love and serve God and others.

by Michael Piazza
Center for Progressive Renewal