Matthew 6.25-34 Christians have long argued that consumerism is disastrous. There are two arguments for this. The first says that it is spiritually corrupting. We end up in an endless quest for more things and new experiences, but this will never satisfy us. Better by far to emulate the natural world and take life one day at a time, because it is only spiritual fulfilment that will really make us content with our lot. The second argument says that consumerism is irresponsible and drives us to use up more and more finite resources while releasing more and more pollutants into the atmosphere and the seas. The catastrophic consequences are already all too apparent. But what’s the alternative to consumerism? For better or worse, a certain amount of consumption keeps the economy afloat because - as Karl Marx observed - workers are also consumers and if they aren’t consuming anything many of them will inevitably be thrown out of work. Advocates of a ‘circuit breaker’, to try to stop Covid-
Matthew 13.1-9,18-23 The time has come to say ‘farewell’ and two songs come to mind. The first is the farewell song at the ball in the Sound of Music, when the children are about to go to bed. There's a sad sort of clanging from the clock in the hall And the bells in the steeple too, And up in the nursery an absurd little bird Is popping out to say "cuckoo"… There’s something slightly sad and faintly absurd about saying farewell without being able to say proper goodbyes. The other song is ‘So long, it’s been good to know yuh!’ by Woody Guthrie: Well, the churches was jammed and the churches was packed, But that dusty old dust storm it blew so black That the preacher couldn’t read a word of his text, So he folded his specs ‘n’ took up a collection, sayin'... So long, it's been good to know yuh, So long, it's been good to know yuh, So long, it's been good to know yuh, But this dusty old dust is a-gettin' my home And I've gotta be driftin' along