When I go to bed at night, I’m grateful for air conditioning, the ceiling fan, and a comfortable bed that helps me to get a good night’s sleep. Yet if I think back to my childhood, I grew up in a home without air conditioning, where we would put a fan in the window to help cool things down. If I think even harder, I remember the nights spent camping in tents, with no fans, and only a sleeping bag on the ground, and still, somehow, I slept. My conclusion at this point is that if I had to sleep in a tent right now with only a sleeping bag for a bed, I would likely not get much sleep for the first few nights. However, at some point, I suspect that I would actually begin to sleep better as I got further removed from my comfortable bedroom and more acclimated to my new surroundings. I suspect that I would ultimately realize that what I think is necessary for sleep really is more of a strongly held want – and I really do want a comfortable, cool bedroom at night – but still only a want instead of a true need.
We spend lots of money, and therefore a lot of time, to secure things that we’ve convinced ourselves are needs. While there is no doubt that our lives would be drastically different if we did away with many of those things (think computers, televisions, smart phones, microwave ovens, and yes, air conditioning), the reality is that people lived long and happy lives without those things for centuries. What we have done is adjust our lives so that we have thoroughly embraced technological advances so that we could not possibly maintain our style or quality of life without them – but that is truly a different thing than saying that we cannot live without them. Life would just be different. And it would also likely be considerably less expensive.
Please know that I am not a Luddite. I have embraced the modern lifestyle and the technology that fuels it (I’m definitely not sold on Artificial Intelligence though), and I have no desire to roll back the clock. However, I do think that we would all benefit from some time removed from much of today’s technology, if for no other reason than to remind ourselves that life is indeed possible and even enjoyable in an unplugged world.
In chapter 23 of Leviticus, God instructs the Israelites to observe annually the Festival of Tabernacles, where the people are to construct and live in small huts or booths for an 8-day period as a way of staying in touch with the experience that their ancestors had during the years spent wandering in the desert before taking possession of the Promised Land. Living in these temporary and portable structures, the people would be reminded of a few key facts. First, that it was God who always met their needs, whether they were in the land of milk and honey, or the barren desert. Second, that they didn’t need material possessions to be joyful people living with a purpose. Third, as they now enjoyed lives of abundance, they needed to understand that when our abundance feels like need, we risk being enslaved by materialism.
We should be grateful that God has provided for us so abundantly, especially during hot summer days like today when we can escape into the air conditioning. But we should never allow ourselves to become trapped by the abundance of our lifestyles. Perhaps it requires a week in a tent to recalibrate our understanding of who we are and how we were meant to live. If so, then let’s go camping. I do think, however, that I’ll wait for it to cool down a bit first!
Peace and blessings – Pastor Aaron