"do unto others..."

"The great threat in today’s world is the loneliness of hearts oppressed by greed." ー Pope Francis 

I know of someone who recently said her house was not big enough. Time for a bigger house. I raised my eyebrow questioningly as I know her house and it is not so small--at least--not to me, for her family of five. I just moved myself not that long ago and my own house is plenty large for what I need...which isn't much. How much room does one need anyway?

Today's world places a lot of import on having what everyone else has. Larger houses mean now you can accumulate more "stuff." More stuff equals needing more room. More room means it will cost more, thus more hours spent at work to accumulate more stuff...it seems to me such a vicious cycle.
Last weekend I passed a resort with nice houses sitting around a lake. This, in Minnesota, is what is known as "going to the cabin," except to me, a cabin is a small place that is pretty primitive. No, these are houses with two and three car garages, with large boats on a long dock waiting to be used. I scratched my head in thought. More stuff....needing a lot of care....I thought a vacation was to rest...to relax. How can one do that if they drive for a few hours through traffic just to get someplace that needs cleaning and care? Did you not just leave all that behind? More stuff also means more security needed protect it....huge sigh.
Let's get off that wagon, shall we?

Luke 12:13-21New International Version (NIV)

The Parable of the Rich Fool

¹³ Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
¹⁴ Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” ¹⁵ Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
¹⁶ And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. ¹⁷ He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
¹⁸ “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. ¹⁹ And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’
²⁰ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
²¹ “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

I bring this parable up only to prove a point; that we can get so caught up in things that we forget the real purpose of life. Instead of focusing on things, we should focus more on people. Jesus did not have "stuff." He relied on God for His daily needs and taught us to do the same. 

Matthew 19:23-24New International Version (NIV)
²³ Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. ²⁴ Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

He taught us how to pray, using the "Our Father" as a model. "Give us THIS DAY our daily bread..." meaning that we not need to worry about tomorrow, we do not need to store things for later....we only need the here and now. This doesn't mean that you should save for retirement or have a "rainy " fund stashed away, rather, it means that more focus should be placed on God rather than on material things. 

1 John 2:17 
"And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever."

Rely on God for your happiness. Then spread happiness around. I guarantee you that the feeling of "doing unto others, as you'd have them do unto you" is such a great feeling, you can't help but be happy! And...who can put a price on that?