Need
There are wants. And then there are needs.
What we think we need. And what we actually need.
The fact that we talk about our wants in the language of need? It doesn’t do us any favors. Truth be told, it gets us into a habit of thinking about our wants in the language of need.
Until we can’t tell the difference between our wants and our needs.
The downside to that? On the less harmful end of the scale, we end up convincing ourselves that we “need” the latest whatever. When the one that we have works just fine. And it’s barely a year old.
It only gets worse from there. Especially when our inability to tell the difference between our wants and our needs seeps into our personal relationships.
Today’s Gospel is a pushback against that lack of clarity. Where Jesus sends out the Twelve. And makes a big deal out of what they take with them.
It’s a trust moment, to be sure. But it’s also moment to be clear on the difference between needs and wants.
Jesus goes right to the heart of the difference. He doesn’t separate luxuries from needful things. Jesus draws the line closer to home. Separating things that make sense, things that any prudent planner would be glad to have, from things you actually need.
As Jesus shows us, our needs – our actual needs – are a lot less than we think.
Getting that clarity. Understanding what we actually need.
Knowing that God has already provided for all of it – everything we actually need – is incredibly freeing.
In the words of Prudentius (the great hymn writer of the early Church),
“To wish for nothing more than need demands is rest supreme.”
Today’s Readings
