Excerpt from Acts 2:37-47

"All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need."

Reflection by Christina Villa

Have you ever lived with anyone who has a "what's yours is mine" attitude toward possessions?  Maybe a sibling when you were growing up, a teenager in your household, a friend of a teenager in your household, a roommate in college, a co-worker?  They "borrow" your clothes, your books, your bike, your favorite pen, your tennis racket, your car. Without asking, because they knew you wouldn't mind.  Since it’s all in the family, or between friends. And you weren't using it, anyway.

That's not the point! you want to say, and maybe do say.  The point is that it's MINE.  The early Christians in the book of Acts, we're told, "had all things in common."  Sold all their possessions and split the proceeds "as any had need."  So nobody owned anything and everyone had their needs met.  Hard to picture, isn't it? Especially given how infuriating it is when the person in the next cubicle repeatedly helps himself to something as simple as your stapler.  

Reserve your moral indignation for something worthier the next time someone borrows something from you. Before you get too angry, stop and be grateful you have whatever it is in the first place. Not guilty, and not greedy. Just grateful.  Maybe it will change your perspective on the borrower in your life.  And maybe it will make those early Christians and their communal set-up seem a little less impossible, even in the real world.  

Prayer

Dear God, as the economy struggles, I may need some help loosening my iron-fisted grip on what's MINE, so please give me reminders that it all comes from you.  Amen.

About the Author Christina Villa is on the staff of the United Church of Christ in Cleveland, Ohio.

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