Every place that I have lived has been full of stuff. I grew up in relatively small houses; the first one a duplex, and the one I spent the most time in, and where my parents still live,

is a split-level built in the 1950’s. It’s easy to fill a small house. Both houses in seminary were small. The house Donna and I bought after seminary was a spacious 1100 square feet, if we counted the back porch, which was closed in, but not heated or cooled. Since it was off the kitchen, we put cabinets and kitchen storage out there and called it our butler pantry. The first rectory we lived in, was to us, quite spacious at 2400 square feet, give or take, more than twice as big as any place we had lived, plus a large garage with tons of storage (which we filled). This rectory is even bigger, somewhere in the neighborhood of 3800 square feet. Still, no matter the size of the place, we have seemingly filled them with…stuff. And this is after getting rid of things with each move.

Both Donna and I have recently gotten an itch to downsize. Clothes we don’t wear are going. Items that we haven’t used much or at all in the last few years, be they appliances, tools, furniture – you name it – they are on their way out. We’ve also started to become ruthless with the girls’ toys. We were fortunate to inherit a lot of hand me down toys from others, and thanks to the twice a year rummage sale in my last parish, we could get great toys for pennies on the dollar. After you include birthdays and Christmases and all the gifts they have been given, we realized that they simply had too much. We had very happy childhoods with much less, and in actuality, we decided that too much was actually having an adverse effect overall.

I have an app on my phone that lets me read summaries of non-fiction books. It’s sort of like Cliff Notes, only shorter, distilling the wisdom from an author into a digestible 15-minute read. One of the books that got my attention was a book entitled, “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing,” by Marie Kondo. Life-changing and tidying up in the same title? I was intrigued. The bottom line to Kondo’s suggestion is that we look at all of our possessions and if they no longer bring us joy, get rid of them. For example, she suggests taking all of the clothes out of your closet and going piece-by-piece asking if that shirt, or those pants bring you joy. If not, donate them or recycle them. It applies to everything we own, although some processes will be easier than others.

For instance, books and tools will be my downfall when I get around to them. I like the idea of holding on to a book, whether I have read it or not. I THINK they bring me joy…but I will have to think hard about it, and determine what emotion underlies my assumptions. I have decided that both my table saw and my tile saw are going to be sold. I haven’t used either in years, and I don’t foresee any major projects in the near future. They don’t bring me joy anymore, and in fact, they are taking up room that I would like to have back. I won’t enjoy seeing them go, but I also realize I won’t miss them anytime soon, if at all.

If we apply Kondo’s methods, I think it becomes clear that by surrounding ourselves with only the things that bring us joy, we have more joyful lives. Most everyone I know could stand to have more joy in their lives, and indeed the amount of stuff we have and our struggles to keep it all clean and organized and put away is a serious impediment to joy. With a full garage or a full closet, with any storage that overflows or is packed tightly, comes a little bit of stress and worry – two things none of us need or want. And yet I am well aware that many folks can’t just give things up. We have these emotional attachments that prevent us from imagining a life without all of our stuff. It’s definitely a spiritual process. If we can determine where the emotional attachment comes from, we might learn a great deal about our own joy or our own unhappiness.

This book was also the illustration for a meditation that Bishop Don Johnson offered to the Province IV Synod I attended a couple of weeks ago. He was reflecting on the upcoming work of the General Convention and suggesting that our ability to give our Church a hard look with an eye towards what brings the Church joy or what brings God joy, and then jettisoning the rest, would be extremely productive and helpful given all our conversations about how to best “be church”. I agree with Bishop Johnson and hope that is the spirit of our conversation and deliberation in Salt Lake City.

In Living Compass we are asked whether we own our stuff or our stuff owns us? Apply that question to all areas of our lives, and we are likely to come up with some interesting answers. As The Rev. Dr. Scott Stoner, the creator of Living Compass, suggests, “difficulty…getting rid of possessions can be a sign of unresolved grief.” I think that, too, is correct, and again an important part of finding out why we have a hard time letting go of things, or people, or whatever it may be that we possess and hold on to.

We have a culture that assures us that more is better, but the older I get and the more stuff that passes through my life, the less sure I am about that. I don’t feel assured in all my stuff. There are things and people and commitments and thoughts and feelings that don’t bring me joy, and I am going to do my best to start getting rid of them. I am not foolish enough to think it will be easy, but I know that it will be worth it in the end.

In Matthew and Mark, Jesus told the rich young man who wanted to see the Kingdom of Heaven to go and sell all his possessions, give the money to the poor, and then follow him. The young man went away sorrowful for he had many possessions. Does it make us sorrowful to think about getting rid of our possessions? Do our possessions prevent us from following Jesus’ invitation? Do our possessions bring us joy, or get in the way of joy? These are all good questions to ask ourselves. And depending on the answer, it’s time to start getting rid of some of our stuff. We need to start somewhere.

Tom+

O Lord, you have saved us through the Paschal mystery of Christ: Continue to support your people with heavenly gifts, that we may attain true liberty, and enjoy the happiness of heaven which we have begun to taste on earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.