Stuff by George Carlin

Last night Jamie and I were watching TV and on GBP they were doing a dedication to George Carlin. Now, I am not at all a George Carlin fan, but Jamie made me sit there and endure the TV show. He started doing his comedy act about "stuff" and it reminded me of what we learned in FPU about having "stuffitus". George looks at it like this:

• The whole meaning of life is trying to find a place to put your stuff. Really? at least that is what society wants you to think, isn't it?


• If we didn't have so much stuff we wouldn't need a house. That is a good point. We could become a missionary and not worry about leaving our stuff behind...hmmm.


• Your house is a place to keep your stuff, so you can go out and get more stuff. How many times have you just gone shopping just to get more stuff you did not need, to impress people you did not like, with money you did not have?


• Sometimes you got to get a bigger house to hold all of your stuff. Why, because you have TOO MUCH stuff. I wonder statistically how many people in America have more house than they can afford, just to store all of their stuff?


• Sometimes you even have to store your stuff. There is a whole industry based on keeping an eye on your stuff. Now that is where it gets to be a really big addiction and why Dave calls it "stuffitus".


• We think to ourselves when we go to other people's house and see their stuff "what an awful stuff it is". And, this is when greed steps in and we start coveting our neighbor with what stuff they have. Did you even stop to realize that this is one of the ten commandments, thou shalt not covet their neighbor?"


• Sometimes we've got more places than we've got stuff, so we have to go out and buy more stuff. And this causes debt up to our eyes balls my friends.

Amen to most of this right? At least until you have had a change about the way you think about money. If you truly hear what Dave tries to say in the weekly sessions of Financial Peace, you will understand that society has sold us such a pack of lies about how having stuff gives us power, control, prestige and fame. Then add having to pay someone for that stuff which we must have right now, just makes us "normal". Well, most people do think that, but once you really start to understand that God is very clear when he says that you will either love God or money and you can not love both, is when you really start to understand that "stuff" is not all that important any more. I want to be "weird" and try and change the way our community thinks about stuff. Stuff is OK, as long as stuff does not consume your life to the point where a comedian such as George Carlin has to write a script about it and sells millions, because it is true.