UMTV Brief

UMTV Web Brief #33 – 1/1/03

 Too Stuff-ed? Intro :

 Welcome to UMTV’s Web Brief; I’m Reed Galin.

Have you ever asked yourself, “Where has all the time gone?” Of course you have. People associated with a progressive movement would say it’s spent on buying and taking care of things that just clutter your life. Simplicity believers have made a conscious choice to seek quality over quantity – maybe good advice as we head into a new year.

 Too Stuff-ed? Story:

This is Christine Robertson's new home – all 330 square feet. You can see Robertson's entire domestic universe by standing in one spot.

Christine Robertson, minimalist: "I had a job several years ago in sales. I went out and bought a lot of expensive suits and I thought, ‘This is the kind of life I want. Sooner or later I'll buy a car,’ and then realizing after a while I didn't want to be in sales. I didn't care about making that much money."

And so, Robertson very purposefully shed her prosperous sales job and, she estimates, three-fourths of her worldly possessions.

Cecile Andrews: "We have all sorts of things that we think are going to make us happy, but they don't really."

Cecile Andrews is one of the new gurus of simplicity. Her book Circles of Simplicity now guides regular study groups around the country.

Cecile Andrews: "Simplicity is really asking 'what makes you happy?' And what makes you happy are the time-honored things – people, time for yourself, simple pleasures."

Who says money can't buy happiness? Money buys lots of stuff. And stuff seems to make us really happy.

Cecile Andrews: "I think of it as the "Costco high." You have this, like, 'Oh, look at all the stuff I got for so little!' And then you get home, and it wears off.”

Andrew Warner, Costco shopper: "I think they get you anyway when they always have something different there that you haven't tried before. And you can't just have one. Might as well have 10."

Cecile Andrews: "I think of it as the examined life – that you're asking what matters and what's important. And you're thinking in terms of your own sense of well-being, the sense of well-being of the wider community and of the planet."

Commentary – Purchasing Power Intro:

“Earn all you can; save all you can; give all you can,” said John Wesley, founding father of Methodism. It’s the philosophy Marigene Chamberlain, a staff member at the General Board of Discipleship, uses as motivation for being a more responsible consumer.

Commentary – Purchasing Power:

“I lived overseas from 1984 to 1986, and, when I moved back to the States, I had this sense about being connected to the rest of the world and what impact how we live here makes on other countries.

“There’s just something important to me about that, about sharing space with the rest of God’s creation and not taking up more than my fair share. And I don’t mean I live in cramped quarters. I’m trying not to generate so much waste that it’s going to take something away from someone else or I’m trying to spend money in ways that don’t deny other people what, in my opinion, is theirs.

“To learn to ask the question ‘At what point am I substituting buying this for some other need that really isn’t answerable by buying something, by owning something more?’, I think we need to think about not only things, but relationships and time.”

Feast of Famine Intro:

From the land of plenty, we now go to a place in desperate need – Malawi, South Africa. The country is facing the worst food shortage in a decade. Due to a long drought, the food harvests needed to last all year were depleted in January. We take you to a village where people are doing what they can to forget about their deadly troubles.

Feast of Famine Story:

With their spontaneous song of welcome, it's hard to imagine many of the women and children in this village of Chiole, in Malawi, Africa, have gone without food for days – but they have. In fact, the lead singer has not eaten for a week. Malnutrition has taken the life of one of her sons.

The United Nations says more than 14 million people in southern Africa are threatened with starvation. Half of them are women and children – including this boy, whose black hair has turned blond – something villagers recognize as a sign of death.

She has a name for the famine gripping her country – mass killer.

The villagers are building this modest church, but it's not so much a sign of hope as it is a sign of reality, says United Methodist pastor Smart Msinkhu.

"You are burying 10 people at a time at services?”

Smart Msinkhu: “Yes, just from hunger. A terrible hunger."
 
It’s time for dinner in the village, but the outdoor kitchens are empty. So instead of cooking, they say thanks to strangers – or ulendo – for coming for a visit, with a song.

Feast of Famine Tag:

Earlier this year, the United Methodist Council of Bishops issued a churchwide appeal to fight the famine in South Africa. Monetary donations can be made through the Advance. The information is on our Web site. In addition, the United Methodist Committee on Relief is asking for medical supplies for Africa.

(For additional information on United Methodist efforts to aid those suffering from the famine in Malawi, see http://umns.umc.org/02/july/298.htm; http://www.umc.org/headlines/Africadrought/; http://gbgm-umc.org/health/medbox/medhome.html.)

Tease next week:

On the next UMTV Web Brief, helping blind children set their sights on an independent future.

“I just couldn’t believe it. Just some PVC pipe and gluing it together could help a little blind child.”

Thanks for watching; make it a good week.