Need More Space

I was travelling up Hwy 29 the other day a noticed a curious sign. It insinuated that empty nesters, people whose children were no longer at home, needed more space. In deed the sign actually gave the impression that this was space that these now childless parents had been doing without for some time and now was the time to reclaim it for themselves! Of course in order to do that you needed to purchase certain items to aid in the transformation of what once were bedrooms into…offices…dens…exercise…computer…sowing…games…(can you think of any other) rooms. My thoughts didn’t turn to whether or not these were appropriate uses for these rooms, but to the idea of space itself. When in our history did we all of a sudden become such consumers of space? That is what we’ve become as we treat space as a commodity that is packaged, wrapped, and valued just like any other commodity. The days of children sharing a bed room (which even I had to do for a little while) and people building and living in modest size homes is long gone. Even the styles of shopping centers we’re constructing are “growing to serve you [us] better.” Why do we need so much space? There once was a time when family members literally tripped over one another and now we live in house where we can’t even hear one another unless we’re yelling at the top of our lungs, let alone actually see one another or cross one another’s paths. And that still isn’t enough space because as soon as the kids are gone – there’s the chance to swoop in and convert now useless “them” space into meaningful “Me” space. In the process I think we’ve lost an understanding that space has power and meaning for us as individuals, as families and as a community. The burning bush story in Exodus 3 bring to mind this sense of space as sacred when Moses approaches the bush and hears a voice telling him that this is sacred ground and that before he could approach any further he was to take off his shoes. For sure this story makes direct reference to ground, that is earth and stone and sand, yet it also makes reference to seeing space as sacred. Space has meaning. I remember growing up hearing stories about different places. Sometimes they still existed, sometimes they had succumbed to the passage of time, yet there were some that would last forever. These were places that defined a people, where they fished, how they made their living, where the safe waters were, and what was passed on to the next generation. Space you see has power. Space informs what we think is important and how we treat our space tells others about what we think is important. SO why do we need so much space? And why are we in such a hurry to strip meaningful space where our children have lived for years as soon as they’re gone out the door? What is it saying about us and what is it saying to them?