Need or want – in these tricky times I have come to realise the difference between Need and want.  Wilbarston Shop has everything I need. So do supermarkets, but there, the things I need are not as obvious. On display are things I might want, but dont need: e.g. orchids, out of season fruit and veg, dishwasher tablets on special offer…and so on. I buy all these things of course! But these are the things that ‘cost the earth’ in more sense than one. They are not necessities – at least not to me, I now realise.

What do I really need? A roof over my head, means of keeping clean and warm, and food and water – i.e. protein of some sort, fruit and veg, and, of course, toilet paper! Provided I can get to the shop, I’m ok. There is much more in Wilbarston shop that I don’t need, but do want. For example; fresh coffee (roasted and ground on the premises) fresh cream, rice and pasta, wine, yeast, newspapers and postal services. 

There is more to want than meets the eye.  The eye stimulates want… until I know something exists, I cant want it  – hence the £billion advertising and packaging industries.  Or maybe, it’s not until I see something, or run out of something I am used to having, that want  kicks in. For example I want fresh coffee, wine, and chocolate. (all stimulants I note!)

Over and  above these earthly needs is a far greater human need; love. Everyone needs love. Without love we would not survive infancy, never mind a crisis like this. I’m not talking about erotic love, which we all yearn for at some point in life. But the love that transcends everything, for which a language does not exist to describe it. Love of the sort I received from my parents, and love I share with my family and friends and those who fit somewhere in-between. Those who fit somewhere in-between include many pupils and fellow ‘woolies’ who spin and weave. They love what I love. Hence we share a love and respect for each other and our individual uniqueness, and creativity.

We feel the same for our pets and gardens,  love that is indescribable, and the very essence of our being. This transcendent love is where creativity is found. When you do what you love doing, you realise your own potential, and therein lies joy. I don’t think this can be found in a shop full of things we might want but don’t need. It is found in simple things shared with those we love.

 Love Bears All things 1Cor 13.4-7 – I think it needs saying.