Buyer beware!

Originally published in Light & Life

In the seat pocket on every airplane you'll find the emergency information card, an airsickness bag, the inflight magazine and, of course, SkyMall . I hope I never have to use the first two items and can't justify buying anything out of the fourth.

The upscale catalog features such "must-have" items as the $295 full-sized "Sword of Frodo" complete with certificate of authenticity for Lord of the Rings fans, the $349 "Mind Relaxer" which utilizes "biorhythmic sound and light patterns to remove outside distractions," the $499 "Hudson Dog Bed" featuring "world-class craftsmanship in mahagony finish," and the "Armada 20 Automatic-Winding Watch Case" that keeps twenty watches perfectly wound for $1,499.

There are also "economically-priced items" such as the 15-inch "Voice-Activated R2-D2" robot for $199 and the life-size replica of a WWI Sopwith Camel propeller "crafted from solid hardwoods" for just $159.

I usually look through it for entertainment, but on my flight back from three weeks in India, I looked through with a sense of conviction.

During my time there teaching writing to Christian authors, I had been driven through the streets of Mumbai in 1950 taxis. Although the temperature was 90 and above, we kept the windows rolled up in the un-air-conditioned cabs. The shabbily-dressed beggars who lined the streets would reach right into the cab making their pleas.

One image that is forever burned into my memory is an emmaciated women, probably in her twenties, clutching an equally malnourished baby. She pressed her face against the back window glass with her deep-seated eyes communicating her desperate need.

We had been warned that many of the so-called "beggars" were actually making a good living—up to 400 American dollars a day—begging and some parents, to make their children more sympathetic beggars, intentionally maimed them. And yet, as my eyes connected with the woman and her need, I wanted to empty my pockets of all the rupees I carried.

The woman's eyes seemed to stare out from the pages of SkyMall on the return flight and left me with a question that has forever changed my spending: "Can I justify this purchase to the Indian woman and her child?"

I certainly can't justify a $499 bed for our chow-shep-ski who prefers to sleep at my feet in my home office. And I can't imagine what I'd do with a $295 movie prop sword or a $159 WWI propeller. But do I really need another music CD? (I already have nearly 200!) Do I need a brand new shirt or can I get something just as nice at Goodwill? Do I need a new car when entire families race through the crowded streets of Mumbai on scooters?

Jesus' teaching in Matthew 25 prompts other questions:

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.'

"Then these righteous ones will reply, 'Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?' "And the King will say, 'I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!'" (25:34-40 NLT).

My questions don't arise while scanning SkyMall but at Wal-Mart and my mail box filled with offers.

Do I really need another magazine subscription when the rack is already overflowing (and I can read most of them online)?

Do I really need the name brand items or will the store brands taste, fit and work just as well?

Will a used vehicle get me safely and trouble-free from point A to B as well as a new model? (Yep, we just returned from a trouble-free thosuand-mile trip in our 1998 Neon with 125,000 miles. It's just broken in.)

And my current delemma: Do I really need an I-Phone? (Probably not when we already have two cell phones and two laptops with home WiFi.)

"Can I justify this purchase to the Indian woman and her child?" The answer is usually no.

But most of all, can I give an honest answer to Jesus. "What did you do onto me?"

I think I'll put the SkyMall catalog where it belongs—in the air-sickness bag.

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