Consuming less, living more

|PIC1|Imagine a world where money is no longer god. One where all people are able to live thankfully, share their homes and possessions, and give generously and joyfully to those in need. That’s the kind of world a group of Christian friends dreamed of when they launched the Breathe network in 2005.

Breathe describes itself as a “space” where like-minded people can come together in conversation to share the highs and lows of their own attempts at living more simply.
There are no Breathe ‘members’ per se, but anyone is welcome to subscribe to a regular email that lets them know how others in the network are coming along in their efforts and how they might start up new conversations about simple living where they are.

“Breathe was launched not for people who have arrived at a simple life already, but rather for those feeling a bit trapped, a bit guilty, a bit clueless in today’s consumer driven society,” says Rev Mark Powley, Associate Pastor at St Paul’s Hammersmith and Breathe co-founder.

Launched in Edinburgh at the time of the Make Poverty History march, concern for the world’s poor has formed a consistent backdrop to the network’s conversations and particularly the question of what difference individuals can make to the world when they start with themselves.

“Make Poverty History was a very powerful moment for people campaigning around that message but I think there was a sense in all that of ‘where do I fit into all this?’ ‘Where’s the challenge to me?’” says co-founder Chris Webster, who works for World Vision. “It’s important to challenge poverty but there needs to be a cost somewhere along the line and some of that I am responsible for."

With that in mind, Breathe is keen to support people in having conversations about how they can live differently and more simply, and how they can encourage others in doing that as well.

The changes may seem small, but they are all crucial to seeing a shift in mindset and lifestyle, Mark believes.

|PIC1|"Breathe is about turn your mobile phone off. It might save a tiny bit of energy but that’s not the point. The point is that the network of advertising and shopping and media that we live in is a very complicated set up but it hugely shapes the way we live," he says.

The Breathe founders are the first to admit that they don’t have all the answers. They are also the first to admit that making even the smallest of changes is not easy.

“We all feel too busy, too rushed. We all know we have so much when other people don’t have any food to eat. And yet we know we feel silly if we are wearing outdated trousers and that it can be tiring to live ethically. It can be exhausting just looking at the options and whether we’ve got it right or wrong!” says Mark.

That’s why at Breathe’s recent annual conference, some 150 Breathe supporters decided to come together and make a public pledge to live more simply for the next 12 months, the idea being that making the pledge together should make it easier to keep in the long run.

The Promise of Life is open to anyone to make and commits people to “live thankfully” and “savour what we have, pray for what we need” on a daily basis. Mark hopes, however, that Christians first and foremost will rise to the challenge of living less consumerist lifestyles.

“There is more to this than ‘we should shop less’ and ‘we should have less’. This is about the shape of our lives," he says. "Just how thankful are we? Because you could give £10,000 a week to Tearfund but live a begrudging, busy life that leads to marital breakdown or just doesn’t look to other people to be fully human. Or you could live more freely, more thankfully. The church needs to get this right if we are to have something to say to the rest of the world.”

The Promise of Life is so called because the Breathe founders believe that when lived out, it really does lead to life. Hence, it’s an opportunity for Christians to put their faith in something greater than themselves - God.

“In some ways consumerism functions as an idol and you can’t fight an idol without something else to live for,” says Mark. “If you are constantly trying to secure yourself or gain significance for yourself then the only thing that can free you from that as a Christian is the securing love that God gives. It would be great to say ‘oh if we had less’ or ‘oh if we used less’, but actually the key to this is the securing love of God.”


On the web: www.ibreathe.org.uk