Shine Like Stars: Devotions From Time of GraceNäide

A Lifestyle That Shines: God's stars live like travelers

Do you possess your possessions? Or do your possessions possess you? I can always detect materialism in other people, but I don't see it quite so readily in myself. The only reason I've stopped acquiring more stuff is that my house is already overfull. Think how many people have to park in their driveways because their garages are packed full of other stuff!

Some people have lives uncluttered by possessions because they are poor. Poverty does bring some spiritual advantages, doesn't it? Much harder, isn't it, to travel light when you have much. St. Peter calls us aliens and strangers in the world. How can you be that when your life is so loaded down with stuff?

Here is some wisdom from St. Paul: "We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:18). Having stuff is not evil in and of itself. The real questions: Where is your heart? What do you value most in life? Since we must leave behind absolutely every material possession, let's keep looking up and traveling light.