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註：本文轉自https://www.crosswalk.com/family/finances/can-we-really-be-joyful-without-money-and-stuff.html，本文非商業用途且相關版權歸該網站及作者所有。

Can We Really be Joyful

without Money and Stuff?

沒有金錢還有物質享受，
我們仍能喜樂嗎?

作者

Pete Briscoe

Sitting Bull, the great Sioux chief, once said of the white man, “The love of possessions is a disease in them.” If it was a disease in 1875, it’s a pandemic now.
坐牛，美國印地安人蘇族，曾對白人說過: "熱愛物質就是一種病徵。" 如果這病徵是發生在1875，那麼現在已經普遍傳染了。
 

Even though we know in our heart of hearts that more is not better, we keep accumulating things at an alarming rate.  Dave Bruno, the author of “The 100 Thing Challenge,” got rid of most of his possessions – keeping only 100 – so he could live a simpler and more meaningful life.
雖然我們內心深處都知道，擁有更多不會更好，但是我們卻以令人警惕的速度在累積物質。大衛布魯諾，也就是"百大挑戰"的作者，把他大部分的所有物都丟棄-只留下一百樣-所以他可以過著更簡單又更有意義的人生。
 

“In our culture, excess equals success,” he says. That’s another way of saying the more you have, the happier you will be.
"在我們的文化裡，過多才等於成功。" 他說。換句話說，這就是意味著你擁有的越多，你就會越快樂。
 

Excess actually means extra or surplus. One dictionary defines excess as “unrestrained overindulgence.” Unrestrained overindulgence is success in our culture, and we have bought into it.
過多的意義就是多餘的，或是剩餘的。一個字典裡定義過多為: "沒有節制的奢華享受。" 沒有節制的奢華享受就等於是成功，在我們的文化裡，然後我們也照單全收了。
 

In reality, less is better. If we shift the way we live, we will be countercultural. But that’s OK; that’s what the church is called to be. It’s actually better to have less than to have more.
事實上，擁有的越少越好。如果我們改變我們生活的方式，我們就會反文化而行。但是這沒有關係；這就是教會所倡揚的。擁有少一點好過擁有多一點。
 

If you own less, you have more time to invest in other things. You don’t have to clean, organize, manage, fix or replace your stuff. You actually save money if you own less. Then you have more money to do the things you really want to do.
如果你擁有的比較少，你就會有更多時間投注於其他事情。你也不用清潔，整理，管理，修理，或是替補你的東西。你擁有的較少也比較省錢。你也有更多錢可以去做你真的想做的事情。
 

You deal with less stress if you own less. Randy Alcorn said, “Every increased possession adds increased stress.” Your possessions will break down, stop fitting you or need to be upgraded.
你擁有的較少，就會面對較少壓力。蘭迪艾爾康說: "每增加物質財富就增加壓力。" 你的所有物會壞掉，不再適合你，或是需要升級。
 

If you can be content with having less, you can seize opportunities to be generous to those in need. You will also have fewer distractions so you can focus on the things that really matter, that make you happy.
如果擁有較少，你可以滿足，你就可以抓住機會大方給予需要的人。你也會有較少的事物讓你分心，所以你可以專注在真正重要的事情，讓自己快樂。
 

Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived and also the richest, wrote in Ecclesiastes 5:10: “Whoever loves money never has money enough. Whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.”
所羅門，也就是最聰明也最富有的人，曾在傳道書5:10寫到: "貪 愛 銀 子 的 ， 不 因 得 銀 子 知 足 ； 貪 愛 豐 富 的 ， 也 不 因 得 利 益 知 足 。 這 也 是 虛 空 。"

Only Christ satisfies.
唯有基督能滿足。
 

He couldn’t have said it more clearly than he did in Matthew 6:19: “Do not store up for yourself treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal.”
祂在馬太福音6:19裡面說的再清楚不過了: "不要為自己積攢財寶在地上，地上有蟲子咬，能鏽壞，也有賊挖窟窿來偷。"

When we have less, we can focus on him.
當我們擁有的比較少，我們就能專注於祂。

I’ve noticed a common denominator in our brothers and sisters in Christ in countries all over the third world – a rare and abiding joy. When I meet them, I catch myself wondering, “How can they be so joyful? They don’t have anything.”
我注意到一件共通的事情，就在身處於第三世界的基督徒弟兄以及姊妹身上- 一種珍貴的還有持久的喜樂。當我見到他們，我發現我開始思考: "他們怎麼可以那麼喜樂? 他們甚麼都沒有啊。"
 

Do you hear the motto of our culture coming through in that question? And if we were to say the question out loud, do you know what they would say? “I’m joyful because I don’t have anything.”
你聽到了我們的文化座右銘從這個問題顯現嗎? 如果我們要大聲唸出這個問題，你知道他們會說甚麼嗎? "我很喜樂，因為我沒有任何東西。"
 

When my son and I went to India a few years ago, we spent a lot of time at McDonald’s because he didn’t really want to eat the Indian food.
幾年前，當我跟我的兒子去印度的時候，我們很多時間都吃麥當勞，因為他沒有真的想吃印度菜。
 

We were with Joseph – a Christian leader in India and one of the most joyful people I know – one night and asked him to go with us to McDonald’s. We got in line, and he asked me, “What do I do?”
我們跟約瑟-一個印度的領導人，以及我認識最喜樂的人之一-一天晚上我問他要不要跟我們去麥當勞。我們開始排隊，他問我: "我要做甚麼?"

And I said, “You order your dinner.”
然後我說，"你就點你要吃的餐。"

He said he’d never been there before, that McDonald’s was way too expensive for him. I told him how to order, and he got a burger and fries. He ate that burger like he was eating a steak at a fine restaurant.
他說他從來沒有到麥當勞吃飯，因為對他來說太貴了。我告訴他如何點餐，他點了漢堡還有薯條。他就像在高級餐廳吃牛排一樣的吃著漢堡。
 

Then he got some ice cream for dessert, and as soon as it hit his tongue, he said in wonder, “Ohhh! It’s cold!” He had never had ice cream before. Joseph doesn’t have very much, but he’s full of joy.
之後，他又點了冰淇淋當甜點，然後他的舌頭觸碰到冰淇淋的瞬間，他驚訝的說，"哇! 是冰的!" 他從來沒有吃過冰淇淋。約瑟擁有的沒有很多，但是他充滿喜樂。
 

I’ve actually heard conversations with brothers and sisters in the third world who feel sorry for us because we have so much stuff.
我曾經親自跟第三世界，替我們擁有太多而感到抱歉的弟兄姐妹聊天。

They know that less is better. We need to remember that excess is not success; excess is supply – a supply for people in need.
他們知道擁有的越少越好。我們需要記得過多不是成功；過多是供給-供給予需要的人。

A few weeks ago, while I was cleaning under my bathroom sink, I found a bin of old glasses I had forgotten. There were 16 pairs of nice glasses, just collecting dust.
幾個禮拜以前，當我在清理我的洗手間的洗臉槽下方的時候，我找到我放置舊眼鏡的桶子。裡面有16副眼鏡，放在那裡積灰。
 

All of sudden, I thought, “What can we do with these? Who needs them?” And I remembered something from a mission trip to the Amazon. Villagers would try on pair after pair of glasses – glasses we no longer needed – until they found a pair that would enable them to see. And I thought that Jesus was going to make 16 blind people see through my old glasses.
突然之間，我想，"我能拿它們做些甚麼?誰需要這些?" 然後我想起我去亞馬遜傳道的那次。村民應該會試戴一副又一副的眼鏡，我們不需要的眼鏡-直到他們找到一副使他們可以看得清楚的。然後我想，耶穌要透過我讓16個弱視的人重新看見。

I couldn’t wait for those people to see clearly for the first time. When you can use your excess to meet other people’s needs, it’s a beautiful thing.
我已經迫不及待要讓那些人首次重見光明。當你能撥取你過多的而供給人的需求，那是美好的一件事情。