In our Free Store conversation Friday morning we talked about the meaning of the Good Friday holiday. Interesting name for a day that we decided wasn't very good at all for the man that is being remembered on it. We talked about how it was in reality the worst day of Jesus' life because it was the day that ended in his cruel death at the hands of his enemies. Someone brought up how the day our friend Dave died a few weeks ago was a bad day. And we all agreed that life is full of many bad days. Someone said that you had better have your camera ready for the good days so that you can capture those fleeting happy moments.
Somehow the conversation turned toward the choices that we make. Someone said that most people don't have a lot of control on how much money they make but that we always have the power to choose how we spend it. We talked about how people can make good choices even though they don't have a lot of money. It was empowering to realize that even though we might not have much we always have the power to make positive choices for our own lives.
Since it is Anticonsumerism April at the Free Store we started talking about the different ways that we can spend our money. Since it is Good Friday we talked a bit about Judas, the man that betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver which was the going price of a slave in those days. Someone said that God made us free but that human beings made slavery. We talked about some of the bad things that people will do for money. Somebody said that every time we use somebody for our own advantage that is a form of human trafficking. It made us sad to think about all the ways that we can value stuff over people.
At this point someone brought up another character in the gospel story that gives us an alternative to Judas. This character was a woman that bought a ridiculously expensive perfume and poured it on Jesus as an expression of her love for her friend. We calculated that based on current minimum wage this perfume must have cost over $15,000 a bottle which is a lot of money to spend on someone. The question came up about the best gifts we had ever received. Sheila said a beautiful flower. George said a portable DVD player and birthday party at the free store on his 50th birtday.
As we do so often in our conversations we talked about how the best and most important things in life are free. There is a saying famous in NASCAR country (for those not from around these parts that stands for National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing--pronounced racin) "Gentlemen, start your engines." We laughed a bit as we realized that none of us has to start our own engine because life is something that we have within us without even having to think about it.
Our friend Linda, who does not hide the fact that she has engaged in prostitution, said that you can't buy love. Someone else said that the air we breath was free. We got to laughing about the fact that it probably wouldn't be if someone could figure out how to control it. And then someone said that if you need oxygen in the hospital it is actually very expensive. Mark mentioned that medical services might be so expensive because of all the marble used in the construction of these elaborate hospital buildings.
In moving our discussion to a conclusion we encouraged one another to spend our resources on the people that matter in our lives. All of our stuff will pass away with use but the people we love have eternal potential.
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