Enough: Contentment in an Age of Excess
How much is enough?
In an age of conspicuous consumption-of designer sunglasses, jeweled cell phones, and five-thousand-square-foot homes-is it possible to be content? In a society where children spend more time worrying about their weight than their grades, is it possible to find peace? In a world being drained of its natural resources, is it conceivable that we do nothing? And with a universe of dazzling temptation at our fingertips, will we still seek the God of all creation?
Will Samson is good at opening thoughtful dialogue; a recent conversation was about social justice. In Enough, his latest wide-ranging, insightful book, Will addresses the idea of finding contentment in this age of excess. With a casual, accessible writing style, he discusses consumerism, contentment as a Christian discipline, and the notion of stewarding our resources. In four sections, Will outlines the ideas that drive a consumeristic mindset; the effects those ideas have on ourselves, our communities, and the earth; conclusions about the situation; and practical solutions for negotiating everyday life once we understand that our abundant God is, in fact, enough.
If you're exhausted from keeping up with the Joneses, or if you're looking for the balance between what is necessary and what is too much, just stop. Enough is enough.
Top Highlights
“As Gandhi said so well, ‘There is enough for everyone’s need but there is not enough for everyone’s greed.’” (source)
“There is a saying in philosophy: Every ought implies a can. In other words, it is assumed that everything we should or ought to do is also something that we have the ability to do. But in America we seem to have turned that equation on its head: Every can implies an ought. We have assumed that because we can build bigger cars, bigger homes, bigger shopping malls, that we ought to do those things. We have acted as if there was nothing in the model of Christ, Scripture, or the tradition of the church that could speak to this issue.” (source)
“Stuff is a word I am going to employ often through these pages. I use it as a kind of shorthand for the things that gunk up our lives, things that make our lives more complicated without making us more whole. Stuff is also used as a kind of shorthand for a perspective of people and communities who are more characterized by consuming than by being consumed by God. This allows us to speak of the concept without having to reference big, long explanations each time.” (source)
“But most of us do not know anyone hungry or thirsty. We do not know someone without clothing or in prison. No strangers come to our door to be welcomed in. Who, then, is the other?” (source)
“Perhaps one of the biggest areas of consumption these days is information and ideas.” (source)
Product Details
- Title : Enough: Contentment in an Age of Excess
- Author: Samson, Will
- Publisher: David C Cook
- Publication Date: 2011
- ISBN: 9781434704030
Will Samson is a PhD candidate in sociology at the University of Kentucky, where he is working on research in the areas of sustainability and Christian community. He was recently awarded the Gilbert Beers Fellowship for his paper “Christians for the Mountains: An Evangelical Response to Mountaintop Removal.” Will and his wife, Lisa, along with their three children, Ty, Jake, and Gwynnie, live in Lexington, Kentucky, as part of Communality, an intentional Christian community dedicated to living out the call of the gospel in tangible ways.