caviar on monday, crusts on tuesday

 I have been asked a lot recently if this Christmas is different because of my time overseas. Am I just overwhelmed at my country’s consumerism? I’ve been taken out to eat and spent more money on one meal than an entire month of food overseas. How do I handle it? The truth is that this Christmas is different because my heart is different. I have not struggled so much with feeling contempt for this culture of consumption as much as I have just felt my heart breaking with every attitude that is implying that THIS is all there is. All you have to look forward to is STUFF when really the lie just leaves you wanting more of something else. My heart breaks for this nation that largely thinks this is it.

 

 I am more grounded because I can relate to Paul when he wrote in Philippians 4:12 “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” The idea that I could eat caviar on Monday and crusts on Tuesdays and be content in every bite. Last year I experienced a Christmas with a different family,
with hardly any gifts and a meal of freshly slaughtered goat and found contentment, satisfaction and even pleasure. I believe this polarity is to be embraced and probably will be the rhythm of my life as I strive to straddle this gap of ministry to an impoverished world while living in the midst of splendor. I see that as part of the adventure of following Jesus; to be comfortable among the poor but also to have the favor of kings. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

 Here is a silly little video that was made my my squadmate Tangi Holmes last Christmas when we were in Eldoret, Kenya.