When Is Enough Enough?

A sermon delivered at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation (Blacksburg, VA), April 5, 2009, by the Reverend Christine Brownlie.

In a few days our Jewish friends and neighbors will be celebrating Pesach — or Passover — with a feast called the Seder. Many of you may know that this is a ritual meal that follows the Biblical account of God’s liberation of the Hebrew people from bondage in Egypt, where their ancestor Joseph (of the Technicolor Dream-Coat fame) had been taken after being sold by this brothers. For those of you who are not familiar with this tale of liberation, here is a short version.

These descendants were living in Egypt and doing quite well for themselves. But then the Pharaoh who had known Joseph died. A new Pharaoh came to the throne of Egypt, and he was nervous about these foreigners. As their numbers were increasing, he worried whether they would be loyal to him. So he had them enslaved, killed off the male children, and forced the people to work making bricks.

One male infant named Moses survived the slaughter — thanks to his clever mother and his devoted big sister. After he grew to adulthood, he had an encounter with Yahweh who told Moses that he had heard the groans of the people and was moved to act on their behalf. Yahweh instructed Moses to go to Pharaoh and demand that he release the people.

Pharaoh refused to release the Hebrew people, so Yahweh inflicted a series of plagues upon the Egyptians as a punishment, but after each plague Pharaoh still would not give in to the demand of freedom for the Hebrew people. Finally, Yahweh inflicted a truly terrible plague: the angel of death would pass over all of Egypt one night and kill the first-born male in every Egyptian family. The Hebrew people were told to have a feast that night which would include a freshly slaughtered lamb. They were instructed to collect some of the blood and to mark their homes. When the angel saw this mark, he would know to pass over these homes and spare their first-born sons. The Hebrew people were instructed to leave Egypt the next day, while the Egyptians were mourning the deaths of their children.

The Hebrew people did as they were told. As soon as the sun rose, they fled. However, even the deaths of the first-born sons did not deter Pharaoh from an attempt to stop them. He sent his army out to bring the people back. The army caught up with the escaping slaves at the shore of the Red Sea, and the terrified people could go no further. But Yahweh parted the sea, allowing the people to cross to safety while the pursuing the Egyptians drowned as the water closed over them.

Moses then leads the people through the desert for forty years. They were dependent upon Yahweh for sustenance; he provided manna and other foods to eat. Finally they arrived at the border of the Promised Land. Moses died, and under the leadership of Joshua, they slaughtered the inhabitants of several cities. The land was then divided among the twelve tribes, and the Hebrew people settled down to begin the next chapter of their history.

During the Seder, the meal and the story are woven together as everyone follows a script called the Haggadah. This sacred text tells the story and includes some of the ritual acts that are a cherished part of the meal: opening the door for the Prophet Elijah, dipping the herbs into salty water, spilling wine as the 10 plagues are recited, and having the youngest child ask the four questions. After the story is told, everyone gives thanks to Yahweh for all that he has done for them. The heart of the Seder is that Yahweh’s acts were not frozen in history and done only on behalf of a particular group of people living at a particular time. They were done for those who are living today.

The litany goes like this (“Dayenu” translates as That would have been enough):

If He had brought us out of Egypt. Dayenu!
If He had executed justice upon the Egyptians. Dayenu!
If He had executed justice upon their gods. Dayenu!
If He had slain their first born. Dayenu!
If He had split the sea for us. Dayenu!

(For a discussion of these, plus ten more, see this Web site.)

This list of Yahweh’s acts continues through the splitting of the Red Sea, the provision of food during the forty years in the wilderness, gift of the Sabbath, the Torah, and the Promised Land, to the building of the Temple in Jerusalem. The purpose is to express gratitude for Yahweh’s abundant grace and generosity to all Jews throughout time. But remember, if Yahweh had only led them from Egypt, it would have been enough! They didn’t have to cross the Red Sea to escape Pharaoh’s army, they didn’t have to survive forty years in the wilderness, and they didn’t have to make to the Promised Land. It would have been enough just to leave their bondage in Egypt.

My friend and colleague, the Rev. Marti Keller, calls this passage the Zen Koan in the midst of a Bible story. She says it tells us that even before the people were led through the seabed, they were given enough because they were given what they needed. Even before they were given the tablets of laws, they were given enough because they were given what they needed. Even before they crossed into the Promised Land, even if they had never reached it, they were given what they truly needed.

It seems to me that in this time of financial meltdown and anxiety, many of us might find it helpful to take up the spiritual practice of Dayenu — it will suffice me — because if I think about it, I see that I have what I truly need. At least I hope so!

Like many of you, I find myself pulling back on my discretionary spending — more by choice than by necessity at this point. I have occasional moments of anxiety and fears for the future as it will impact members of my family, friends and myself. I remind myself that we are all hard-working and resourceful people with skills and talents and experience, but will that be enough? While there are no guarantees, I feel confident that none of us will starve or be homeless. I remind myself that I can live with less — much less — and yes, Dayenu! It will suffice.

In fact, we may come out of this better off than we were before this collapse hit us. It may be that backing off from the intensely consumer-driving economy that we have lived in for the past couple of decades will have some invaluable benefits for us and the entire world. I’ve come to this conclusion as I’ve been reading a book of essays, Mindfulness in the Marketplace (ed. Allan Hunt Badiner), which address the issue of consumerism and how the effects that our current “mindless” consumer habits affect our lives, the lives of other people — including our nearest and dearest — and our planet.

One essay by Bo Lozoff, “How Not to Feast From the Poisoned Cake,” struck a chord with me. In this piece, he talks about how modern life seems so difficult and stressful. Adults find that they are constantly feeling pressured: by work, by the needs of the family, by the pets, by the demands of keeping up the house, the yard, the car, the myriad machines that we rely on, the wardrobe, the finances ... He observes that while life is “inherently joyful,” for most of us, it is filled with stress and frustration. He warns that

“We seem to be knocking ourselves out in pursuit of a vague image of success and meaning, while the real quality of our everyday life with our families and our communities steadily declines.”

Lozoff claims that this stressful life is enslaving us because we are caught up in an economic system that depends heavily on consumer spending. To encourage us to buy, we are deluged with messages that tell us that we’re not good enough just as we are. To be “in,” we need to acquire certain “Must Have” items so that we can be admired and envied. These “Must Have” items include the right clothes, shoes, watch, car, furniture, kitchen countertops, and we “Must Have” a youthful appearance — even if we’re well past 50!!

When it comes to a woman’s face, there is nothing too trivial for improvement! I recently noticed a full-page article in O (Oprah Winfrey’s magazine), describing special serum that adds length to eyelashes and was far superior to the drug store mascara that I buy. I was stunned to find out that this magic potion sold for $150 for a small bottle. (This lash-lengthen “miracle” is actually a medication used to treat glaucoma.)

How ridiculous! How pathetic! I see this as an extreme example of the over-heated and relentless attempt to create an artificial “need” and that persistent itch of want that will never be quieted.

When is enough enough? I suppose it all depends on whom you ask. It’s likely Donald Trump or Madonna would probably have a different answer than someone living on the streets of Chicago.

Do I have enough? Do you? Many of us here today believe that we live on a modest scale compared to other Americans. We don’t drive flashy cars or live in huge houses. We don’t vacation in exotic places. But if we do, we’re inclined to focus on saving the environment or learning about the local culture instead of endless shopping or extravagant resorts. True, we may be scaling back, giving up those $3 dollar, 300 calorie coffee drinks or dropping back to a less expensive package on our cable TV service. We may be doing just fine, but we don’t see ourselves as extravagant spenders. I think that most of us would say that while we have “enough,” we’re not extravagant spenders. Or are we?

If we put the question of “What is enough?” to an ethicist like Peter Singer or Jeffery Sachs, they would tell us that most Americans have far more than they need to live. Most of us can easily afford goods they would call “luxuries,” goods that our impoverished brothers and sisters in other countries can’t even dream of: a varied and ample diet, access to medical care, closets and drawers filled with clothing, books, TVs radio, cars. Compared to the 1.9 billion people who live on $1.25 a day, we are unbelievably wealthy. And according to Singer and Sachs, our wealth gives us the opportunity to lift our very poor brothers and sisters out of their abject misery. Singer offers a vivid metaphor that illustrates his sense of our moral obligation to the world’s poor.

In Singer’s new book, The Life You Can Save: Acting Now to End World Poverty, he offers this thought experiment. You come across a small child who has fallen into a pond and is in danger of drowning. You know that you can easily and safely rescue this child, but you are wearing an expensive pair of shoes that will be ruined if you get them wet. Should you risk your shoes to save the life of this child? (Apparently there’s not enough time to remove the shoes.) Singer says that everyone would agree that would be seriously wrong to walk on past the pond — in fact, most people think it would be monstrous.

Then he observes that most people don't think it wrong to buy expensive shoes that they don't need rather than give the money to an organization that would put it toward interventions that could save a child's life. Singer says that while the parallel between the two situations is not exact, even after exploring the differences, the moral obligation is clear.

To my mind, this is an over-simplified understanding of the problem and the solution. Our current economic mess tells us that when we turn off the spigot of consumption, the consequences are likely to be dire for a long chain of workers. Mindful consumption requires that we try to anticipate and address such problems with compassion and action. But I agree with Singer that for the sake of those who live in grave poverty and for the health of our planet, we need to get off the crazy carousel of consumption that has been promoted so heavily for the past few decades. Our efforts must be directed toward creating a new economy that will benefit the people of the world, including those in our own community who are struggling. Some of us here today are worried and uncertain about the future. The job market is tight, competition is heavy, and our skills, experience, and talent do not seem to be sufficient. We’re not sure what the solution will be and what it will cost us. The answer isn’t clear, and we worry that a misstep could bring disaster.

And this brings me to another very difficult human situation that we cannot ignore — and yet cannot resolve: the continuing conflict between the nation of Israel and the people of Palestine. In this season of Passover, the question before both the Arabs and the Israelies is this: “When will you have enough land, enough security to say it is sufficient?”

From what I’ve read from some of the key players in this complicated and entrenched conflict, I find it difficult to be hopeful that the pain and the hatred that is felt by each side will be resolved any time soon. Despite my pessimism, I am pleased that some of our members and friends have formed a study group and are hosting a presentation by Daniel Breslau this coming Tuesday evening. You can find more information about this opportunity in your newsletter or from our Web site.

Today the choir sang the anthem “Ose Shalom” invoking the God who brings peace to Israel. As we approach the holy days of Pesach, my prayer is that peace will come to each of us as we seek liberation from whatever desires, anxieties or fears that hold us back from finding joy in life and from being the creative and generous people that we long to be.

May it be so!