Everything That Rises

Why are we in love with stuff? Stuff breaks. Stuff gets old. Stuff wears out. Stuff is expensive. So why do we love it? I say we because I love stuff too. Of course, I'd like to think my stuff is a bit more socially acceptable, but at the end of the day it's really just more stuff. Stuff is a symbol of our spending power--our worth. Stuff gives us control, grants us status. Stuff clutters our hallways and offices, yet we don't want to get rid of it, because we know we'll just go out and get more. There are people who have serious issues with stuff; we call them hoarders. However, the strange thing is no one has ever come to my home, seen some stuff I don't use, and say, "Hey man, why you got all this stuff over here that you don't use? Are you a hoarder?" I don't know. Maybe we're all not that obsessed with stuff, but it does say something that we live in a country with an entire industry built around storing excess stuff. I'd like to ...

"Why do the heathen rage , and the people imagine a vain thing?" -Psalm 2:1 ( KJV ) Why are so many people angry? You can tell me it has something to do with politics, religion, or the vanishing of some idealized reality that never really existed in the first place, but that's a bunch of malarkey (and you know it!). Frankly, I'm tired of hearing and reading about people who constantly have some ax to grind, some banner to wave, some freedom being taken away. The last time I looked these same people aren't any less comfortable today than they were yesterday or the day before. I can't understand it. It seems to me like no one has a positive opinion about anything anymore; nobody is "for" anything--we're all "against" something. What happened? When did we allow our political affiliation or opinion determine our worth? When did opposing views begin to lead to radical, even violent, actions towards each other? It's more than troubling. W...