Weighty Matters

Weighty Matters

A book I was reading slapped me silly with these few words: “As a species we travel better light than heavy-laden.”^a I had just schlepped through security and across the terminal with a large purse, a laptop, a jacket, and a bulging folder of editing to complete in flight. I was weighted down—but convinced I needed every extra ounce I toted.

Each day I hear stories of people who are traveling lighter—and most of them not by choice. Their portfolios aren’t as fat as they once were. Their list of must-have devices and services is growing leaner too. They’re deciding that vacations can be trimmed, or vehicles can be driven less than fully loaded. We’re told that this is a very bad thing. Cause for fear, even.

I think it might not be. I think the grudging divestiture of some of these “weighty matters” might yield a positive outcome in the end.

The things I carried into the airport made my shoulders ache. They kept me slightly off balance as I tried to shift their weight to an easier-on-the-body position. Seated, I had to watch them carefully. I was only away for three days. I could have traveled lighter.

When did our stuff get so heavy? When did kindergartners start lugging ten-pound packs? When did a “medium” soft drink begin to tip the scales at thirty-two ounces? When did television screens expand in all their high-def glory to dwarf regular living room furniture? When did we start demanding so much of everything but not making time for the one thing we need most of all?

I could have done without the folder of papers. The flight was only two hours. I could have done without the laptop. I could have done without twenty-five pounds of clothing, shoes, and toiletries for a there-and-back working trip. I once spent ten days in Europe with far less and never felt unequipped or underdressed.

Sometimes carrying more means having less: less freedom, less spontaneity, less curiosity, less contentment. In these weighty matters, I am a very slow learner.

Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God.

Matthew 6:26, MSG

^a Gerard W. Hughes, God in All Things (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2003), 141.