Snark & Sensibility

Photo by Darwin Vegher on Unsplash

EXCERPT FROM LESSONS ALONG THE WAY VOLUME II

Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed (1 Corinthians 5:7 NASB).

When we left our home of twenty-eight years to relocate to Florida, downsizing became a huge factor. Then we downsized again when we moved from Florida to a Maryland townhouse and still again when we moved less than a year later from the townhouse to an apartment. We are looking at the possibility of downsizing yet again as we consider changing from a three-bedroom apartment to a two-bedroom to save on rent costs.

I think of the many folks who like to do garage sales in an effort to adjust their store of treasures. My daughter’s community arranged a huge “free garage sale” where participants put unwanted items outside on the curb for anyone to take. A great way to downsize. Our castoffs can become someone else’s treasure.

Maybe this is part of the bane of getting older. Parting with possessions we’ve spent years accumulating. We convince ourselves we need to hold on to these things “for the memories.”

A recent meme I read said,

“You don’t need more room, you need less stuff.”

As I gaze around, I realize, there are many items I don’t need. In fact, some things I possess come in triplicate. How many spatulas do I need to use at one time? When I get the initiative, my giveaway box gets pretty full in a short time.

As I go through items we haven’t touched in several years, I ask myself why I thought I needed to hang onto these things. Do I need five strainers? Two electric carving knives? Two steam irons? Three printers? Old landline? Three different sets of silver?

I have a plethora of books too.

Of course, there are mementos. Pictures, albums, and the like. How can I part with those precious cards from the grands? Every sheet of paper comes with a memory.

And there are my career vanities. Writing conferences where I found encouragement; inspirational thoughts I use for blog posts. And most of all, copies of my works, published and maybe someday published.

What criteria should I use to make the decision to toss or keep? Give away or sell?

My eyes well with tears as I consider this reality—henceforth, I’ll need to live a Spartan existence, keeping only my lance and bow nearby—those things which are a necessity and not a want. While there is a weighing down in spirit through the process, there is lightening as well when I cast the burden of surplus aside.

I am reminded of how much our soul becomes cluttered with unnecessary things.

Have I allowed my prayer life and communion with God to be encumbered with cataloged guilt and shame? Or perhaps I hold my habits and desires as more important than a closer walk with the one who emptied himself of heaven for me?

Do I spend countless hours drained by unnecessary dogma? When we get to Heaven, all will be known, and this knowledge will fade in importance to the splendor of my Savior.

So as I purge my worldly goods, I pray God will purge my soul as well. I ask him to place me at the foot of the cross and let me measure the worth of all things at the blood-stained gift of faith, Christ crucified, risen and alive, living in me. This is all I need.

Prayer for Today

Lord, help me to scrutinize my life. What is excess baggage, those things I think I need but are getting in the way of my devotion to you? Purge me. And I shall be like new wool.