When I wrote the original article about nine years ago I was single, living at someone else's house free of charge, working part-time, and preparing to start graduate courses at Franciscan University of Steubenville. Now I'm married with five children, own my own house, own and run a web development business with a couple partners, and am preparing for the success of a business venture that could turn out to be quite lucrative. Indeed, it seems that we need this business venture to turn out to be lucrative if we hope to survive as a business.
After skimming through the original article recently, I was struck by some of my naiveté concerning economic matters and material possessions. In addition, I read an article about a year ago in the April 2002 issue of This Rock magazine titled "Live Simply? Live Shrewdly" by Donna Doornik. She examined the simplicity movement in the light of scripture. Beginning with an examination of the parable of the dishonest steward (Luke 16:1-11) and then describing other real life situations and presenting several other scripture passages, she concludes that "Simplicity is a constantly moving target. The only way to measure our success will be to compare ourselves to others, a practice Jesus condemned...Our only standard by which we are to measure ourselves is God himself....Jesus never said to live simply - he said to live shrewdly." I had to admit I thought she presented a more accurate picture on economics and material possessions from a Christian perspective than I had.
My response on June 10, 2003 to an email I received the day before:
[Name],
Not offended at all. Perhaps I was more right in my 1994 article.
But after reading and reflecting on your email, I don't think the issue is so much independence or enslavement, but rather what we choose to rely on - who or what we choose to depend on.
You say that the Amish aren't enslaved (or dependent) on electricity. But one could say that they are more directly dependent on the land and the weather for their livelihood than I am.
I have chosen not to be dependent on a single employer. Rather, I have chosen to be dependent on multiple clients. (BTW, the lucrative contract seems to have fallen through, but we've found other clients and business ventures to keep us afloat.)
I have also chosen a business arrangement that allows me to work from home. So I'm not dependent on the car for transportation to my work. But I am dependent on electricity, computers, and Internet access for my work.
Independence is relative. It's really just a transfer of dependence from someone or something to someone or something else.
Ultimately, we're all absolutely dependent on God.
Andrew
Andrew Schmiedicke resides in Front Royal, Virginia with his wife and family, where he is a partner in a Web development company. (He helped develop this Caelum et Terra website :)) St. Maximilian Kolbe is the patron of his business. He can be contacted at andrew@schmiedicke.com.
