Lately I've been watching Ray Mears' documentary series, "World of Survival." In this series he travels around the world and spends time with people groups that still live off the land and he learns about their survival skills. He covers a lot of ground; from the Inuit in northern Labrador to tribes in the Amazon, head-hunters in Indonesia, and the Aborigines in the Australian Outback. I think it's pretty sweet.
Anyway, I was recently watching an episode on a tribe of nomadic people in Siberia. You can watch the pertinent clip here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yicexqTSKi4 . As a parent I was intrigued by the section from about 0:20-1:30.
Ray's comment about the children only rarely crying really struck me. According to the prominent Western worldview you'd think that if anyone had something to cry about those kids would have it. Just think about it... these kids live in SIBERIA. And then on top of that they have no toys, no 'home' (just a big canvas tent), nothing but the most basic of foods, and get tossed around on the back of a reindeer for hours/days at a time.
Yet they seem completely content.
That got me thinking. They have no sense of luxury and thus make no demands for it.
How often do I ask Kaleb, "What do you want?" By doing this am I giving him the opportunity for discontent?
To what extent should I, as a parent, say "this is what you can have" rather than "is this what you would like?"
Juanita and I have had a number of discussions around this topic even before we had Kaleb, but I'd like your take on it.
Do we teach/instill the concept of luxury on our children?
...on ourselves?
And here are a few pictures of my progress making Diamond Willow walking sticks. Below is a big staff parially stripped of its bark.
On the left is a completed Walking Stick that my dad gave me a few years back. In the middle is one of mine that has been completely stripped and partially sanded. On the right is the big staff stripped of all its bark except for the 'diamond' knots.
5 comments:
Some people don't use toilet paper; does that mean we shouldn't use toilet paper? Some people don't have medications to keep them alive; does that mean we shouldn't use medications that keep us alive? Some people don't have food to eat and are starving to death; does that mean we should all starve ourselves to death?
I see your point that we are spoiled so we want more, but I don't think that having a life of "luxury" in comparison with others is wrong, it's more what we do with that luxury that's the problem. Do we constantly seek after more without thinking of others? Do we push others out of the way to get what we want? That kind of thing. Should we deny children the privilege to go on the internet because some kids can't? I don't think so because then they grow up not knowing how to survive in this culture they are currently living in. Sometimes it's best to say "no" but I don't think that makes it wrong to sometimes say "yes."
At least, that's my opinion.
Yeah, I hear what you're saying and you have a point (although most of your examples aren't what I would clasify as luxuries but essentials like food... and TP even if it's just a leaf).
I think you're right. We shouldn't just say no incesantly. I think I'm just trying to figure out how to actually LIVE OUT what Paul says in Phil 4:11 "...I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content..." And I'm trying to figure out how to create a culture of content.
What do you all think?
In our "Culture" there are subcultures that arguably do a good job throwing off the discontent that surrounds us- such as the Amish or Old Order Mennonites. A large problem is in our culture- our whole society and economy is based on discontent. That IS our culture. tens of thousands of times a year we are told that we will not be happy until we purchase one more item, or involve ourselves in one more activity. If we became a culture of content tomorrow- our entire economy would collapse and we would very much be more like one of these cultures Mears examines. Not that there may be tons wrong with that...
So, completely off topic. Is Ray related to Rick Mears, 4-time Indy 500 champ and Penske consultant?
Rick
So re the diamond willow, aren't there some spiritual applications that we can gain from the beauty of the diamonds and how/why they are formed? I'm listening.
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