Having returned from Higher Ground we had a weekend off in Cape Town. Sunday, after church, my team and I went to the mall to buy a few things. I really only needed shampoo and deodorant (basic necessities that make my teammates love me just a little more because I don’t smell).
In the mall I was assaulted by stuff! There was all kinds of face wash, cute journals, running shoes and about a hundred adorable dresses that were just begging me to take them home.
I managed to leave, having only purchased the things I needed, but I walked away feeling empty and unfulfilled. My mood was significantly altered; I felt unsettled. I spent a few hours having lunch with my teammates at the Green Room (an amazing little restaurant that I highly recommend if you’re ever in the area), but I was moody.
We left lunch and William and I 
decided to hike Chapman’s Peak, the mountain just behind the place we’re staying. About halfway up the mountain I realized I was joyful.
decided to hike Chapman’s Peak, the mountain just behind the place we’re staying. About halfway up the mountain I realized I was joyful. I thought about the mall with all it junk; its allure, the promise of happiness at the cost of just a few Rand, something to fit every price range. Seeing with real eyes I realized that there was not a single thing that I needed to be happy, that I had been tricked into believing happiness could come from some object displayed behind glass windows with spotlights and price tags.
In reality, all I need is God’s creation spread out before me, surrounding me, wrapping me in beauty. Calmness and peace that cannot be bought or sold filled my soul and God’s whispers could be heard in the wind, the rocks and the flowers.
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Interestingly, at church on Sunday the pastor mentioned this:
In 1890 a sociologist took a study and asked Americans what they thought were the basic needs of life, the bare minimum necessities in order to survive. In 1890 the study revealed that Americans thought there was 16 basic things every one needed in order to survive. The survey was taken less than 100 years later. Now Americans think they have to have 98 things in order to survive.
What are my needs?
What are yours?
