To My Daughter

 

The Battle of Our Stuff

Well, this week I'm in the middle of moving offices where I work. Like many of you there are not many more things that I would rather do than spend my time packing up stuff that I don't even remember acquiring. Let alone sometimes remembering what they are . . . 

My wife would tell you that I have a fondness for keeping way too much of what has passed through my hands. I would argue that I find it difficult to discard items that at some point in my life I deemed valuable enough to keep. (Hoarder, no. Official in charge of archiving valuable mementos of my life on earth, yes.) 

Yet I'm being forced to come to terms during this experience that I have accumulated way more than I need over the past decade at work as I sift through my stuff. And this exercise is also teaching me that there is freedom in purging your life of stuff that you find you no longer need. 

Randy Alcorn has a great quote about this topic, "Every increased possession adds increased anxiety on to our lives." 

Possessions do add stress to our lives—because they need to be cleaned, organized, and cared for. Everything we own becomes our responsibility to deal with and take care of. Possessions are not passive, they are not just acquired, stored, and forgotten while they care for themselves. They require our attention. Everything we own takes up physical space in our home and mental space in our mind.

Which brings us to this less recognized truth, "Owning less means living more."

God's Grace

 

Memories

What gets swept away in the wave of nostalgia? Does truth survive in that tsunami? Does reality and imagination become so intertwined making it impossible to discern the difference? And why is it that our tendencies are to bury the bad and elevate the good things that happened to us throughout our lives? Survival? Forgiveness? A desire to control our own narrative of history?

Let's admit it, pure nostalgia is a blast. To let our minds wander back to the days of our favorite childhood memories, holidays, special events is a wonderful way to spend some free time. But most of us recognize that a visit should not turn into a residence. Longing for the goodness of the past is natural, but remembering the counterbalance of the bad times is a different story.

We want the snowball fights but not the fights in the car. We want the nice without the mess.

So what role does God play in helping us to retain truthful memories?

He is the only one in our lives that remains consistent, faithful, and true. Words of a favorite counselor, guide, mentor, or even our parents may be sweet and wise. Yet few memories come with a true complement of their failures and falsehoods.