Spiritual Hiccups - Addition and Subtraction

I'm not sure why this has been on my mind so much of late, but I've been thinking a lot about adding and subtracting with regards to what makes for a good and full life. We live in a world that presumes addition lies at the heart of a better life.  We need more; we need bigger; we need better.  We need more money, more and better things, a bigger and better house.  We also need more and better experiences.  We want to travel to places we've never been before.  After all, to be well rounded is to be acquainted with many things. 

Now who would argue against reading more classic literature or having college students experience study abroad.  And there are certainly times when more money comes in very handy.  But the fact that more of certain things is often good does not necessarily justify the notion that more is better, that the good life is about having it all. 

Our obsession with more underlies a lot of the anxiety in our world.  It puts us in endless competition with other folks who also want more.  We vie for attention, favors, influence, and prestige.  People worry about whether or not they have "made it," by which they usually mean having acquired the requisite amount of things, status, position, etc.  Our anxieties are sometimes aggravated by those who have added more than us and gotten ahead of us, just as they are sometimes soothed by comparing ourselves to those who have not been as good at addition as we have.

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life...  Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these."  In his teachings, Jesus acknowledges that we need certain things, but he also insists that true life comes, not from grasping for these things, but from letting go.  Quite often, Jesus argues for subtraction over addition.

Recently someone pointed out to me that I and just about everyone that I have ever met has read more books than Jesus ever did, learned more than Jesus ever did, traveled to more places than Jesus ever did, enjoyed more entertainment and fine food than Jesus ever did, lived in luxury Jesus never dreamed of, and so on.  By the math of our culture, our lives are infinitely superior to Jesus' life.  And yet many of us label ourselves "Christian" and say that following Jesus is the way to true life.  

I made need to sharpen some of my math skills.

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