Not long ago my family got together for our annual Christmas party. Yes, this is the party where my children get spoiled with presents from their uncles, aunt, and grandparents. Every year, I get a phone call in November, asking for ideas as to what to get my children. Every year, they come home with tons of toys.
I’ve noticed a trend though. While most of the relatives buy my children the latest trends in toys, my brother Justin buys them unique toys that obviously don’t come from Toys R Us. This year he got Sam a kit to make a little sailboat, and a knitting kit for Liz to make a sock monkey. What great projects for the weeks after Christmas, when they’re still off from school.
I cornered Justin for a while during the party and asked him where he got the presents, since they were so cool, and I just might want to do a little shopping there. He answered that he had gone to Target. And then he made the following remark:
There was so much consumerism. I had to get out of there and take a shower afterwards!
And then he shuddered.
You see, my little brother Justin is something of a hippie. Long red hair, totally anti-consumerism, into environmentalism….we’re very different. At the same time, there are lessons to be learned from him.
He felt so dirty after walking through Target, that he felt the need to take a shower. Why did he feel dirty? Because he’s anti-consumerism. It’s something he feels strongly about.
As a Christian, I am against debt. Proverbs 22:7b says,
…the borrower is servant to the lender.
That’s some pretty strong language. Servant. A slave to the lender. Is that how I feel towards the bank that holds my credit card? I’m getting there, but I didn’t always feel that way.
If I’m strongly against debt, I should feel dirty every time I use my credit card. I do now (well, I would if I used it anymore), but it obviously took me a long time to get to this place.
I’m not sure where I’m going with this, other than to say I admire my brothers level of commitment to the things he stands for, even if we don’t agree on those things. And I can learn a lot from his commitment. I want to feel as strongly about debt as Justin does about consumerism.
So thanks, Justin! Now, about that long hair….
Photo by David Spigolon.
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I think it’s funny the way that you’re suprised to learn something from him – I get the same way if my younger siblings do something sensible that I haven’t thought of myself.
Don’t let him cut his hair (until it starts to fall out), the world needs more people who don’t mind looking different.
He needs to cut his hair because I’m jealous that his hair is prettier than mine! LOL It really is. Long, beautiful red hair.
Isn’t it amazing the things we can learn from others, even when our beliefs aren’t always aligned? I love to hear these kinds of stories, people learning from people-such a good thing.
Take Care
LJ
Thanks for this post. I am both Christian and hippie so I can relate to both of you and your brother’s attitude. I know exactly what your brother means when he says he wants to take a shower after going to Target. I feel this way anytime that I have to visit any shopping center.
Related to this topic, I recently heard a radio story about morality and consumerism that really resonated with me. You and your readers may be interested in hearing it online:
http://speakingoffaith.publicr.....ndex.shtml
Guess what? I have brother named Justin… and he has long hair, too! He has to grow facial hair with it (a goatee) so he keeps his masculine look about him. :-)
My brother is not so much anti-consumerism, but he definitely goes against the grain. He used to wear my grandpa’s suits in high school… pin-striped dress pants, the vest, everything.
I like long beautiful red hair, thought Micah’s isn’t very long (just more than average).
As a quasi-hippie myself, consumption has always been a tough issue for me. I know that I need to consume a certain amount to live (food, for example) and a certain amount to thrive…but I want to cut off the useless or mindless part…and sometimes it’s hard to figure out where that starts.
Your bro seems like a really cool guy. A lot of the original hippies that rallied against the Vietnam war in the Bay Area are pretty rich and live in Marin County now. Maybe it is because they’re anticonsumerism
Hehe…don’t try to get him to cut his hair ;) I agree though, although I don’t need a shower usually after Target and all…You should stop by my blog and see the post about Barbie.
But… where did he get the toys from?
He’s definitely influenced me to watch the consumerism. And though I don’t ever think I’ll be a radical environmentalist, I do think we need to be good stewards of the earth. Politically, we’ll never agree. :)
@ak – Thanks for the link. It looks interesting, and I will check it out in detail when I have a free minute.
@Ryan – I don’t think I’ve ever seen my brother wear a pair of jeans. Always khakis.
@baglady – good point. Maybe if I were a hippie, I would be well on my way to riches, too. :)
@Dawn – I find that amusing too. That actually might have been the influence of my youngest brother though. I think they went shopping together.
I loved the comment about the brother wearing his Grandpa’s suits to school! He sounds like fun!
Ideals claimed but not lived are only value indicators, not actual values-good for him for living up to what he believes in. I like Target toys a lot-they have a much more natural look & feel, with less mass produced plastic toys.
Reducing consumerism is something my family is working on as well. We’ve eliminated certain stores because they are so full of materialistic, low quality, mass produced & advertised…junk. Most of it we just don’t need to begin with.
Have a great day!