Why I Don't Buy Soap

And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. Matthew 6:28-29

I haven't bought soap in over two years, and I thought I'd share it as a random anecdote from our weird lives. We don't buy shampoo either, but unlike shampoo (which I stopped using about three years ago) we do use bar soap, though if we're without for a week or so, we're fine (or so we think). So I have nothing against the stuff. I think soap is great.

My favourite great-aunt died in 1991 when I was 8, and she left a giant cupboard full of soap. I have a vivid memory of going to her flat to clear it up and encountering what seemed a universe of soap. My mom shared that it was because she was a teacher, and "soap is always a good end-of-year gift for teachers". (She also said something about me not being a teacher). Our family used that soap for what seemed like most of my childhood. What I took from the memory was that some necessities can come from friends and family, without even asking.

So I stopped buying soap.

It's not deeply spiritual (likely not very theological), but I find that leaving this necessity more or less up to God makes me feel really excited every time we're running low on soap. There was the lovely soap made by Leah, a fragrant bar from Connie after her Middle East trip, some liquid baby soap from strangers before Eli's birth, my parent's Christmas gift and today an amazing bar of Australian olive oil soap from Tiff. I can smell it now and it gives me tremendous joy.

So every day when I wash, I feel a huge sense of gratitude and the feeling that indeed, I don't need to worry about necessities. I have never used better soap than the past two years. The kids have never been smelly or had diaper rash. It's enough to make me want to put bigger things in God's hands.