Years ago, I had a friend who was house sitting for a wealthy family while he went to seminary. He made a comment that has stuck with me for a long time. He said that he was learning not to want so much stuff, because you eventually reach a point where your stuff owns you, instead of the other way around. He used his situation as an example. The family needed someone to stay in the nice house to keep an eye on it and protect it. If they did not have as much, then they would have no need to hire someone to stay at their house while they were away.

One thing I have noticed when I travel overseas, is that those who seem to have very little, always seem to have the biggest smiles. In this picture is Joel. I met him on my recent trip to Paraguay. The first time I met him, we were walking along the sidewalk, he was singing along to the radio inside the one room house behind him. As he finished the song, singing at the top of his lungs, he saw us on the sidewalk outside his gate, and cracked up in laughter that he had been “caught” singing.

I had a couple of other chances to talk to Joel during my visit. He always was happy, always smiling. By North American standards, Joel has nothing worth mentioning. His house doesn’t even have what we consider to be a proper door. But what he has is a beautiful outlook on life, that looks for what is good instead of what is bad.

I never heard Joel complain while I was talking to him. Several of the North Americans, wealthy by contrast, complained regularly. We were tired, hungry, had headaches. I found myself upset when someone would borrow my hat, my sunglasses, or my mp3 player, frequently without asking. I was too caught in the stuff that owned me, rather than the friendships to be made. When I stopped worrying about who was using my stuff, I had so much more fun. i think I smiled more at that point, even though I was still hungry, and very tired.

There are lessons to be learned from the beauty of poverty. First and foremost is that we should not let our stuff own us. We need to be willing to share it, or even, gasp, to give it away in the name of joy and friendship.

I hope that the next time you see me, that I am smiling like Joel because life truly is good, regardless of what I have.