Mission Statement | Letter From The Rector | Directions | History | Staff
Letter From The Rector
Loincloths and Other Stuff
Money matters in our lives. Let's confess it. We like nice things. How many of us are lusting after the latest flat-screen
plasma television....or the newest and greatest cell phone? How many of us would like to replace that slightly-worn living room furniture with something much more attractive? We like nice
things and in order to have nice things, we've got to have money. But in Scripture, Jesus warns us that our love of, and desire for, money can ensnare us and separate us from God.
There is a story about an elderly monk who had been training a young disciple. Believing that the young man was ready to be on his own, the monk allowed him to live in a lean-to near the river
bank, just outside the village. Each night, happy as a lark, the young disciple put out his loincloth (his only possession) to dry.
One morning he was dismayed to find that it had been torn to shreds by rats. So he begged for a second loincloth from the villagers. When the rats destroyed that one, too, he got a cat to keep
the rats away. But now he had to beg--not only for food, but for milk for the cat. To get around that, he bought a cow. But then he had to seek food for the new cow. He concluded that it
would be easier to work the land around his hut to grow crops to feed the cow. This left him no time for his prayers and meditations, and the lifestyle to which he had committed himself. The
operation expanded. He hired workers. He married a wife, who kept the household running smoothly. Pretty soon, he was one of the wealthiest people in the village.
Several years later, the elderly monk returned to find a mansion where the lean-to had been. "What is the meaning of this?" the monk asked. The disciple replied, "Holy Father, there was no
other way for me to keep my loincloth."
That's how it happens. The late comedian George Carlin once said, "Stuff is important. You gotta take care of your stuff. You gotta have a place for your stuff. That's what life is all about--
trying to find a place for your stuff. That's all your house is--a place to keep your stuff. If you don't have much stuff, you won't need a house. You could just walk around all the time."
I wonder how many of us sometimes feel controlled by all our "stuff." Where can we store it when we don't need it? How can we find it when we do need it? What do we do with all the clutter? And most importantly, could it be that stuff is crowding out the spiritual dimension of our life? It seems sometimes that the more "stuff" we have, the less time we have for God. Sometimes we
forget where really abundant living lies--not with things that take up space and will be long forgotten some day, but with those things that are eternal. Jesus said, "Seek first the kingdom of
God and His righteousness, and all these [other] things will be given to you as well." (Matthew 5:33)
My friends, take charge of your finances. Take charge of your desires. Put God first in your life. He'll show you what "stuff" you really need, and what is just in the way. Find out what it
means to be fully alive!
Peace and Love,
John+