Poverty

I can't remember the exact quote.

Flying back from a trip to New Orleans several years ago I was reading USA Today and the author was reflecting on the simple life. He described the incredible losses suffered by poor people in the wards of New Orleans. He described the simple ways people were living as a result of their losses.

Referring to the effects of Hurricane Katrina, the author said, "It's one thing to simplify on our terms, but it's another to simply on Mother Nature's terms."  

It made me think of the poverty often left in the wake of catastrophes.

Poverty. 

There are many other examples of people living a simple life as a result of poverty. Shane Claiborne,  families in Appalachia, forgotten people in Harlem, and countless other pockets of humanity throughout the US. 

Dorothy Day, an American journalist and social activist, wrote, "It (is) expensive to be poor, and it (is) especially expensive to practice voluntary poverty."

There are those who have resisted the heavy influences of capitalism and have resolved to live a life of simplicity, but it's costly. 

Consumption.

There are two definitions....The first is another name for the disease Tuberculosis. The second is another name for the disease afflicting Americans in epidemic proportions. Tuberculosis can be cured with a palette of medications that arrest the infection. Consumerism can be cured by addressing the patterns prompting out of control spending. 

So, today is another day to choose whether I am going to pursue things and suffer from consumption that leads to poverty, or whether I will resist the urge and break free.