Yesterday I finished sewing another hat and was about to
throw the empty spool of thread away when I took another look. It was a small
wooden spool, as opposed to most which are plastic. The blue and gold label
said: “J.P. Coats Mercerized U.S.A.” Imagine that. Thread that’s not made in China. I tucked the
empty wooden spool into my desk drawer for safe keeping. At least for a while.
One of my earliest memories takes me back to sitting on the floor playing with a spool of thread. Like a kitten mesmerized by anything that rolls, I followed it until it disappeared under a wooden rocking chair. I remember my baby fingers were very small in contrast to the “long dangerous” things which went up and down and could hurt me if I wasn’t careful. I also remember my mother saying, “Karen. Give me that thread. It’s rationed, you know.” Rationed. A word not in my baby vocabulary but one that stuck, nevertheless. I knew it had something to do with the booklet of coupons my mother kept in her purse. And the way she sometimes scowled in the grocery store.
I grew up in a time of scarcity-thinking, Ball jar lids and precious wooden spools of thread. Sixty some years later, most of us think we still need to hold on to things, block things from moving around, stockpile them for another time.
I’ve read that 90% of the world’s wealth is now owned by 3%
of us. Whether we’re in the 3% or
the 97% most of us never think we have “enough stuff.” We nestle down in our “sense
of lack” and look around, wondering who’s got more of the goodies.
Thanks to Netflix, my husband and I are now enjoying episode
after episode of “Lost.”
Like many aspects of pop culture, we missed it the first time around, although I remember people talking about it and thinking: What’s this silly series? A cross between voting people off an island and Tom Hanks making friends with a volley ball?
On the contrary. We love it. The characters in “Lost” are now like old
friends and the other night Hurley (the big guy) tells Jack (the doctor) that
he’s not going to protect and ration out the cache of food they’ve just
discovered. Instead, every one of their group gets to feast. It’s a loving,
beautiful scene of sharing. Rather than living under the “meme” of scarcity,
they opted for abundance. At least for a while.
It reminded me of that line in the book of John (10:10)
where Jesus explains why he came:
“I came that they may have life and have it
abundantly.”
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