Suppose you were deported — stripped of your citizenship, removed from the USA and released into another country, say Mexico. Suppose all your money and resources in the USA were frozen. And suppose you had the opportunity to easily sneak back into the country and be hidden by your family or friends. Would you do it?

If your answer is “yes,” how are you any different from others who have sneaked into the United States?

How much is enough stuff? Our closets, basements, and garages are overflowing with stuff, but still we can’t get enough. So we call a charity to bring a truck and pick up our “old” stuff so that we will have room for more new stuff. Or we rent a storage unit (sometimes three or four) and stuff it full of the stuff we don’t have room for in our over-stuffed house.

I work for a charity that collects and processes donations of stuff. The quantity and quality of the stuff that comes through is amazing – tons and tons of really nice stuff, some of it brand new.

As a society, we are awash in stuff and yet we still buy more: the latest fashion, the next new thing. Even our landfills are bulging, yet we are not satisfied. More! More! We have to have more stuff!

Well, if the accumulation of stuff hasn’t made Americans the happiest people in history (and it hasn’t), it should be obvious to everyone that stuff is not the answer that creates a life of personal peace and fulfillment. And yet, we continue to grasp for more stuff.

Our human desire for stuff can never be satisfied — the more the desire is fed, the more it grows. Our hope for satisfaction comes in learning to control and limit our desire for stuff. Paul of Tarsus put it this way: “Having food and clothing, let us be content.”

Long-term satisfaction does not come from stuff, but from inner contentment. Contentment can be achieved by working to change our focus from acquiring more stuff to:

1) Helping other people. As we begin to help others (face to face, not just in writing checks) and personally give some of our stuff to them, it begins to break our stuff obsession.

2) Achieving inner victory. Instead of trying to satisfy insecurities and inner pain with new material things, begin to overcome them by using mental, emotional, and spiritual resources. When you win the inner victory, the longing for stuff will no longer consume you.

3) Begin to accumulate wisdom on how to live a happy and fulfilling life. Since stuff hasn’t made you extremely happy, why not try wisdom? Begin to read great non-fiction books about how to live a mentally and emotionally rewarding life. Collect uplifting quotations. Feed on wisdom day and night. Stuff has led you on a wild goose chase, but wisdom will lead you to peace, joy, and contentment.

In our present day world, has our conscience taken a knockout punch? Think about this: What if someone who died 50 years ago was suddenly back in today’s world?

After a few days of reading today’s newspapers, watching our TV and movies, and hearing our conversations; do you think that person who died 50 years ago would notice a difference between our time and his? Wouldn’t he be shocked? Stunned? Appalled?

Why? Because that person who died 50 years ago would still have an awake conscience. Over the past 50 years (or however old you are), the rest of us have been brainwashed. Our conscience has been given a knockout punch.

We have slowly bought the message that there is no right or wrong anymore. We have been sold the bill of goods that other people’s behavior is not our business. We have been told that to criticize a person’s behavior is “judging” them. We have been saturated with “tolerance”, anything goes, “if it feels good do it”, and other falsehoods, to the point that we no longer stand for anything.

Today we have fallen for every form of self-destructive behavior imaginable. Kapowee! Meanwhile our conscience sleeps on, knocked out by the myths of our time!

Here is a one question quiz for you: Who are illegals?

_____(A) American citizens who use illegal drugs.

_____(B) Americans who drive under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

_____(C) Other nationals who reside in the USA without permission.

_____(D) Americans who have lied under oath within the statute of limitations.

_____(E) American citizens who have taken things that don’t belong to them within the statute of limitations.

_____(F) People in America who refuse to report all their income to the IRS.

_____(G) All of the above.

(scroll down for answer)



Let's see?



Ok, uh.



The answer?



Well, uh.



Answer: G -- All of the above.

This week’s Motivation Quotation is actually several quotations from the great Russian novelist, Leo Tolstoy. He was a genius and saw through the rising myths of the 19th Century. Our hope is in learning to see beyond today’s myths into reality. Tolstoy can help us find hope.

“People become slaves when they let themselves drift into the habits of society for the sake of following fashion.” –Leo Tolstoy

“Actions and beliefs of an evil nature are wrong even if many people follow them, and even boast about them.” –Leo Tolstoy (See my post on The “Casual” Sex Myth).

“Accepting as truth that which is offered by academics and scientists, without stopping to examine it by the exercise of our own reason, is the superstition of science.” –Leo Tolstoy

“Much of modern science, spreading harmful beliefs, such as that life is solely a product of material forces, deserves only contempt and ridicule.” –Leo Tolstoy (See my post on the Myth of Evolution.)

“The cause of our unfortunate social conditions is that our youths are taught useless and utter nonsense rather than the meaning of life and how to live it.” –Leo Tolstoy (Think about the condition of our schools today.)

“True strength is not muscle, money, or power, but rather mastery over self.” –Leo Tolstoy

“Today, scientists are blindly believed as priests were in ages past.” –Leo Tolstoy