Must Have - Poem by Raymond A. Foss

As if on cue, the ad in the e-mail
echoes of her words,
the sermon ringing still in my ears:
“Must-Have Toys, Bikes, Video Games,
Baby Items, Gadgets, and More”,
so shouted the headlines
The way of this world,
as close as my computer screen.

Nothing is must have,
only wants of this craven world
separating us from one another
as we lose ourselves in selfish drives

Thinking of the ancient church
at the start of what was to be
a common purse, a place together
spending time in the temple to pray
Going where the master led
answering his call, “follow me”
So different than our credit-card world
where, “charge it”, falls from our lips

November 2, 2009
Ecclesiastes 5:8-15
Psalm 15 (Psalter)
& sermon, “Oh For the Simple Life . . .”
by Pastor Ruth L. Foss
http://www.suncookumc.org
Suncook United Methodist Church
Suncook, NH
11/1/09
All Saints Day
http://www.gbod.org/worship/default.asp?act=reader&item_id=19864&loc_id=9,612,32,52
Her sermon is the first of a four-part series based in part on
Reverend Adam Hamilton (http://www.cor.org/about-resurrection/adam/)’s book,
“Enough: Discovering Joy Through Simplicity and Generosity” (http://www.cokesbury.com/forms/ProductDetail.aspx?pid=9781426702334)