Let’s talk about ownership. Do you struggle with “too much stuff–too much clutter?”
There are organizational experts who build business plans on helping people cull their possessions, downsize, or manage their space because things get so out of control. There are hoarders. We joke about those who think that those die best who possess the most stuff or have the best toys. We build edifices to excess–bigger and bigger houses to showcase more and more stuff– until it’s time to move or downsize, when we discover we haven’t touched, or even remembered, mounds of things in just years.
One of the advantages of moving often (nine times in our married life) is that we have probably thrown out (actually given away) more than we’ve kept. I mourn the loss of libraries full of books, some of which I wish I still owned. But that’s another story. Now, we are living in what I lovingly call my “doll house” where there is little room and even less storage room. All you in the North, treasure those basements. Here they don’t exist!
We have an unwritten law in our house, but one that, like many laws, gets broken sometimes. Our law says: “When you bring something into this home, something else has to leave.” Why, then, do I still have the tablecloths that only fit the diningroom table we recently gave away? Why then did I keep the winter clothes that we will never, hopefully, use here in Florida?
When did possessions start to possess us?
Now, then, what is the Christian perspective on this topic? Here’s what Daphne, one of the well-grounded characters in It’s a God Thing! says on pages 73-74. Think about this today: “You came into the world with nothing and you, yes, even you, (Miriam) will leave the world with nothing. I don’t know of anyone’s hearse being followed by a moving van! Our Lord never owned anything but the clothes on His back, and people fought and argued and cast lots for those on his Crucifixion Day. Imagine! What right do we have to ownership? No. It’s just stuff. All that I have and all that I am belong to Him.”
That puts it all into perspective, doesn’t it? Before we give in to the glossy ads which tell us to Buy, Buy, Buy, or as we try to find room in our crowded closets and drawers of all the excesses of Christmas giving and receiving, let us consider, rightfully and critically consider, how many of our possessions actually possess us! How many of our daily “problems” and concerns are really based on ownership of stuff. As an extreme example, would we have to worry about servicing the car, or washing it, if we didn’t have one? The more we “own” the more we have to take care of, right? How do we simplify and teach our children to do so? How do we break the vicious cycle of wanting more than we need? How many more kitchen gadgets do we need? How many more toys do our little ones need? Just a thought to keep us grounded today.
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