Many
people believe Americans to be lost in crass materialism, but I believe this is
a misguided accusation.
Our fantasies of being a
materialistic culture may be a defense against a true love of the material. In a
culture that worships at the altar of Science; rationalism, empiricism, logical
positivism, head over heart, thinking superior to feeling, we are more likely idealistic
abstractionists, not materialists.
We are a consumer society in
love with the idea of material and not material itself. How else can one
explain fast food promoted via wonderfully sensuous and gustatory imagery yet
leaving much to be desired in the actual eating? We eat the menu images in our
head before we consume the food for our bellies.
How else do we account for
plastics and synthetics disguised as real wood
furniture and hardwood floors?
What about polyesters that mimic
linen and silk, manufacturing clothing with so much more ease of care and disposability?
And what about faux stone
masquerading as real rock on so many of our buildings?
This is all smoke and mirrors,
fire and air, style without substance, appearance sans the material.
A true materialist loves the
material world, cherishing the things of the world, repairing not despairing, recognizing
that the world is not a simple commodity for our consumption but rather an animated,
ensouled being of which we are an intimate expression.
When our dreams and fantasies no
longer promise paradise in the ever after but rather plant us firmly in the
present, and immerse us fully in the moment, then our lives, in tune now with
the rhythms of soil and sea, sun and sky will truly blossom.
Visit me at AstroCare.net
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