Consider Olga

She lived like Christ.

5-1-22

Remember last week I suggested that God's deal with us is not to dish out whatever we want but to deliver what we need?

Which means to me we should be grateful for having what we need, and if we get more, we should at least devote a good part of it to other people, whom God commands us to love.* And whom exactly does God command us to love? Everybody, right?

Olga Savitsky taught me plenty about love. If some problem confronted me, I could get together with her and talk it through. For me and others, she set an example of humility, compassion, humor, love, and the wisdom to live in a way that is currently pitched as "intentionally".

Meaning she chose the best way for her to live so as to meet her needs -- rather than following any person or group or prescription -- and to traffic in love.

Though plenty educated (holding a Master of City Planning degree) and able to follow a more lucrative career, she chose to work only a few short days a week cleaning houses. She shared an apartment in a pleasant neighborhood near a commercial district. On most of her errands, she walked. When she needed to drive, she used her aged Toyota Tercel.

She told me, “It’s not like a sacrifice. I just don’t need much. A person with a family needs more than I do. Usually what somebody needs depends upon their function. A corporate CEO, maybe he’s got to throw parties and he needs a bigger house. But I don’t throw parties, so what good is a big house to me? The only reason I’d want one is because the media tells me I ought to have one. We see all this stuff and the desire to have some gets aroused and commercials come on and convince us we need it all, and so on, until we’re beyond debt and into distress.”

Olga wore jeans and T-shirts. “That’s all I own. They’re comfortable, they last. I just bought two new pairs of jeans for $16 each, and they’ll last two years. To me, the key to living well is living in a way that gives an opportunity for appreciating nature and friends and taking time for prayer and writing and helping people. And unless you inherit a pile of money, the way to live like that is to not want a lot of stuff. Most stuff is just clutter. But our culture feeds the desire to own or consume until what we think we need makes us greedy.

“The Bible says that we should work so we’ll have something to share with people in need. I can work for a few days a week cleaning houses and by not letting myself want a bunch of stuff, I can have money to give away. So I’m careful about what I buy, and I pick the things I do buy for durability and longevity. I need a car, so I buy a Toyota. If I needed a car that would break down, I could buy a Jaguar.

“And it isn’t only the desire for stuff that devours our time. It’s also that we try to buy security. People think they need to not only have lots of stuff, but to save or invest or buy some insurance so they’ll be sure they’ll always have lots of stuff. We need a bit more faith. I mean, I don’t have AAA or any kind of roadside service insurance because every time a car of mine has broken down, it’s been a block or so from my mechanic’s house. Except one time.

“The one time my car broke down in an inconvenient place, a guy stopped to help me, and he happened to be the handsomest man I ever saw. Maybe he was an angel. I don’t know. But it sure was fun breaking down.”

Olga died at age 54, several years ago, and I still miss her plenty. Any friend we can trust without hesitation is a blessing. A wise friend we always trust and whose behavior teaches us how to live better is a miracle.  

I own a home and I have three kids, so my needs may genuinely be more than Olga's, or maybe I'm deluded. Recognizing the difference between what I need and what I want is a tricky challenge I wish I could talk over with Olga. But she's gone somewhere I can't currently access.

She left behind a collection of poems. More accurately, they are confessions, wordplay, and expressions of gratitude for God and for her friends. Here is my Zoë at age seven reading an Olga poem. Please consider reading that one and the others.

*I'm quite sure that from God's perspective, to love people doesn't mean we adore them or necessarily even like, admire, or appreciate them. M. Scott Peck presented a definition of love we can safely use: The willingness to sacrifice for the sake of another's spiritual growth.

Vaya con Dios..