Materialistic Enough?

Americans aren't materialistic enough.

"What's that" you say, "We consume more resources -- more minerals, land, water, we pollute more of the sky -- all in the name of having more stuff, than any other country in the short history of this small planet. How could we be not materialistic enough?"

Consider this link from NPR. It shows that in 1947 we Americans spent 11.7% of our income on clothes. Now we spend just 3.6%. The 1940s was a decade of well dressed men and women -- of sports jackets, ties, hats, dresses, and a certain degree of formality. People bought nice clothes and they took care of them.

Now our closets are piled high with junk. We grow tired of clothes and buy cheap new clothes to replace them. We don't dress as well or take as good care of our clothes as we once did.

Perhaps if we were more materialistic (and a bit less spiritual) we would take care of the nice things God has given us and would have less junk in our lives.

Perhaps if we understood that stuff is God's gift to us we would treat it with more care and respect. And if we took more care of the gifts we have we'd consume fewer resources.