In psychological terms,we are what we are today because of what we were yesterday. In other words, our lives are to some extent controlled by the experiences and incidents that happen to us in our life. We therefore respond to life in the way these have shaped us to respond to situations. It is said that the formation we had in our young and youth years are what control our reactions in adult life. In other words if we have not been allowed independence of ideas or of actions in those formative years then we will find that in later years, when we have to stand on our two feet, alone, in society, then we will reason in the same way as the child in us would have. To many this is now generally referred to as our baggage. And baggage is what we carry around with us throughout our life.
Often enough this is inherited from our parents too and the way they have brought us up. It is the unconscious manner in which parents do this, while doing their utmost to give their children a good experience of life, is what makes or mars them forever. Often enough too, parents are not even aware of the effect of their action on their children and this is, to some extent the tragedy of it all. What was good for oure upbringing, of the times of our upbringing, may not be the right thing to emulate in the more modern times of what we call the present!
As a result we often carry repressed, guilt or insecurity feelings all our lives without really knowing why. And we would respond or react to the trigger situations in the same way we did as kids. Feeling insecure often leads us to depend on no one but ourselves, so we store for the rainy days or generate financial strength for ourselves to retire on a good leg, so to speak. Is this wrong? Of course not but we may be overdoing it.
So can we really live without all this baggage? Without letting it all control our lives? I would say "Yes!" and to prove it to yourself just look at the way we really live. Because while we tend to clammer for larger homes, working hard to be able to buy the best for our living and that of our family, filling them with gadgets, furniture, paintings, clothes and what not, we probably don't realise we could do without most of this stuff, sometimes bought on the whim of a so called opportunity when we really don't need them. Often enough too, it is the hype of advertising that misleads us into thinking that we cannot do without these things. Yet, in contrast look how we react when we travel with our real baggage. We are ready to take so little with us and to leave so much behind to fit all our "world" into the 20 kg. maximum that airlines will allow in our luggage. We therefore have to unpack what we really don't need and take with us what is essential.
We then exchange our home for a one room hotel residence. And if it is a suite, depending on how much we can afford, it is still a miniature of what we left behind at home. Yet we take it all in as if it is normal, enjoying the relaxation that this different kind of living gives us for a few days. So, if we really want to, we can live in a more intentioned life. And Christ spoke about this too in His ministry.
In fact, in Luke's Chapter 12 we find that he spoke to the crowd, "Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one's life does not consist of possessions." Then he told them a parable. "There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest. He asked himself, 'What shall I do, for I do not have space to store my harvest?' And he said, 'This is what I shall do: I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. There I shall store all my grain and other goods and I shall say to myself, "Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!" But God said to him, 'You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God."
