I’ve always loved Gandhi. If you’ve ever watched the movie about him or studied his life, you may have seen images of him with his spinning wheel. Ever wondered what the big deal was with that thing… how doing his own spinning was related to freeing India?

The quote below should help…

“I claim that in losing the spinning wheel we lost our left lung. We are, therefore, suffering from galloping consumption. The restoration of the wheel arrests the progress of the fell disease.”

Imagine… a connection could exist between a lack of freedom and over-consumption!  I’ve got no need to “imagine”; I know it firsthand.  It often amazes me how slow I am to grasp things that have already been spelled out for me.  One example relates to consumption.  At its core, consuming is all my acts of taking in, hoarding, grasping, clutching, squeezing, holding.  Jesus said long ago: The man who wants to keep his life… he’ll actually lose it.  I totally buy that.  It’s true.  Life flows to the one who lives with open hands… life flows to the givers, freedom is found by those who refuse to be imprisoned inside of hearts that want more and more.  I’ve spent time living inside a heart like that.  Even a short stay there confirms the truth: Consuming consumes.

That Gandhi character was a brilliant man… and the battle not to be swallowed up by desires of consumption is still raging fiercer than ever.

Keep struggling, my friends.

And keep your eyes open for your “spinning wheels”, those things that might serve as the cure that we’re in need of.