Rich and Foolish

"Who, then, is greedy? The one who does not remain content with self sufficiency. Who is the one who deprives others? The one who hoards what belongs to everyone. Are you not greedy? Are you not one who deprives others? You have received these things for stewardship, and have turned them into your own property....The bread that you hold on to belongs to the hungry; the cloak you keep locked in your storeroom belongs to the naked; the shoe that is moldering in your possession belongs to the person with no shoes; the silver that you have buried belongs to the person in need. You do an injury to as many people as you might have helped with all these things!" - St. Basil


I came across this quote by St. Basil in a book I am currently reading. It was a splash of water on my greedy little soul.

Like most Americans I hoard things. I hoard books, clothes, food and lots of children's toys for my children. I even make myself feel better by comparing "my stuff" to other people's excess. You see in my heart I am terrified at what we are called to do. The parable of the rich fool will further illustrate:

"Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”

And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ "Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God”.  - Jesus according to Luke 12

You see I am in love with my life. I hang on to my secure, warm and comfortable existence. I love my career, my comfortable air conditioned house, the internet, my books, the Netflix subscription. I can't plead ignorance like some- and that's what worries me.

Even now as our family explores these questions deeply.  In the interim I feel like the rich fool in the story above. I am placing my security and pleasure in my worldly possessions. So, we've got our work cut out for ourselves. I hunger for justice and righteousness, but I'm not nearly hungry enough. Help me, Jesus.