Last month for our summer book club, Sarah Nolan led us through a discussion of Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Kimmerer is an indigenous woman who shares stories of her life and the interconnectedness of all that is created. In one essay, she shares the wisdom of living within a gift economy as compared to a market economy.
Are you familiar with market economies? Or "gift economies?"
What do you consider to be a gift?
I know market economies. Being married to a financial advisor, I hear notifications of the stock market every day in my home. Investopedia defines a "market economy" as "an economic system in which economic decisions and the pricing of goods and services are guided by the interactions of a country's individual citizens and businesses."
A gift economy is something different. A gift economy is all about building relationships- giving something to someone with no expectation of anything in return. Not even an elaborate thank you note (although I do love writing thank you notes). It is an act of generosity in hopes of reducing, reusing, recycling, refusing, and rethinking goods as an act of caring for creation and connecting with one another.
My spouse introduced me to this Facebook group called the "Buy Nothing Project." It's specifically for the South of the James (where we live in Richmond), and is part of a larger, nation-wide project.
From the description of the Buy Nothing Project:
"Local groups form gift economies that are complementary and parallel to local cash economies; whether people join because they’d like to quickly get rid of things that are cluttering their lives, or simply to save money by getting things for free, they quickly discover that our groups are not just another free recycling platform.
A gift economy’s real wealth is the people involved and the web of connections that forms to support them. Time and again, members of our groups find themselves spending more and more time interacting in our groups, finding new ways to give back to the community that has brought humor, entertainment, and yes, free stuff into their lives.
The Buy Nothing Project is about setting the scarcity model of our cash economy aside in favor of creatively and collaboratively sharing the abundance around us."
There are three different options. You can request a WISH that someone can grant- whether it is a physical item or an act of service. You can offer up a GIFT for someone to claim. You can express GRATITUDE for a gift that you have received. Through each of these acts, you are creating a connection with your immediately neighborhood.
How does a gift economy set an example of caring for one another? Creation?
How does the model of the Buy Nothing Project set an example of being a good neighbor?
Within worship, there is always an opportunity to respond to God's Word. Sometimes this is in the form of an offering when we are invited to give our time and/or talents to the work of the church- the people. Through the passing of the peace, we are called to reconcile with God and our neighbor and share in the beloved community.
This week, I invite you to imagine what a gift economy looks like as embodied within your own life. This can be participation in a Facebook group or a shift in the mindset of how you give gifts to others. Sometimes we give gifts, sometimes we ask for gifts, and often we express gratitude.
A prayer for this week from A New Zealand Prayer Book:
Almighty God,
you give seed for us to sow,
and bread for us to eat;
make us thankful for what we have received;
make us rich to do those generous things
which supply your people’s needs;
so all the world may give you thanks and glory.
Amen.
