As many of you know, Mark and I are embarking on a new journey – after eight years of living separately we are moving back in together. This is exciting and terrifying at the same time. Exciting because we will have the opportunity to reconnect and rebuild our life together. Terrifying because we now have to learn to share a space again.
Two Houses Into One
In eight years one can become very comfortable having full control over one’s space and having that invaded can be somewhat unsettling. However, that is not what I want to reflect on today. Since the decision was made we have been trying to downsize. We need to fit two houses into one… (And the larger house is the one that will be emptied!) This is a process in and of itself. We have had to ask questions like:
- Is this important as we move into the future?
- Can we give this away?
- Is this garbage?
- Do we really need all these books?
- How many dishes do we really need?
… and the list could go on.
Some decision were rather easy and it was obvious that they are not things that we need to continue the journey. For example,
I discovered that I am pretty good at keeping tax returns. In fact I had accumulated tax returns for Mark and myself dating back to 1987.
We also discovered the hard drive for the first computer we purchased some 25 years ago, as well as the first electric typewriter that I purchased during my undergraduate degree some 36 or so years ago. I am pretty sure that these things will not be of any use to us as we move forward.
Other decisions were more difficult. For example,
the old family pump organ that has lived in our basement now for some 20+ years. It came to us from Mark’s grandmother and so it holds in it connection to family. However it is very large, and very heavy, and will be difficult to transport. Not to mention – where we would put it once it got to Truro and what we would do with it once we leave this place. This is a decision that still remains to be fully made.
A Sense of Freedom
Despite the ease or difficulty of the decision making process something has become quite clear – with every bag of garbage removed, every item given or sold, and every bag of recycling sent off, the load feels lighter and our spirits have experienced a moment of freedom.
It is amazing how much the stuff in our life can be a burden that weighs on the soul. It has also allowed us the opportunity to embrace changes that needed to happen for the sake of our emotional and spiritual well being. To let go of the things that no longer serve a purpose makes room for the possibility of something new to take root.
I think that this is a process we need to embark on as individuals and as communities of faith over and over so that we can grow and change and become all that we were created to be. Too often in church families we hoard things and the stuff around us builds up and up. When it no longer serves a purpose we feel compelled to hold on to it and our space begins to resemble a junk yard instead of a space to explore and have the soul fed.
The same things happen with our ways of doing things – our traditions as it were. We keep doing them, not because they have a purpose or speak to our spirit, but because that is the way we have always done it and we are afraid to let go. The problem with this is that we quickly become irrelevant and no longer fulfill our mission and ministry.
There comes a time in every journey when we must stop and ask the questions about what we need and how we move into the future and when we need to do some pretty serious house cleaning. With that comes a sense of freedom, a renewed energy and a clearer understanding of where we are heading.
May it be so
Blessings
Valerie
© 2019 Rev. Valerie Peyton Kingsbury. All rights reserved
Oh, I hear you. As someone who moves frequently from country to country and even from continent to continent, my mantra has become “it’s only stuff”, and should I choose to want stuff again, there’s plentry of stuff out there.