Dear Friends,
One day last week, I met the adult children of an elderly
couple who were moving into an assisted living facility. “It took 10 days to
empty their house,” one of them said. “I plan to begin divesting this winter!”
The accumulation of stuff creeps up on us. Some of it we
really need to keep: seasonal furniture, sports equipment, clothing and
decorations. We’ll use them all next year.
But we also put into basements, attics and self-storage
units, things we may never use again, and if the truth be known, maybe we never
did use. Some things we bought on a whim, other things relatives and friends
gave us, and we couldn’t say no or didn’t want to say no. Some things are
mementos of another time, another family.
Buying, storing, and keeping are ordinary human activities.
There is nothing wrong with doing these things unless the buying, storing and
keeping overtake our minds and hearts, and become excessively important to us
or we accumulate without the realization that we could become tethered to
stuff.
Pope Francis reminds his readers that, “The human person
cannot do without material goods…These goods are absolutely indispensable to
feed himself, grow, communicate, associate with others and achieve the highest
purpose to which he is called.” Jesus never denied people what they needed to
become all they could be in life, but He had no use for acquiring more and more
without weighing the cost of the acquisition. Nothing that we have can earn
God’s love for us. What makes a difference is who we are and what we do with
what we have.
Here are some thoughts about dealing with the things we have
in our lives in order to live more simply.
First, if you get a new shirt,
slacks, coat, whatever, give away one that you have had for a while. Get a new
one, give an older one away. Did you know that the average American discards
about 70 pounds of clothing annually?
Secondly, share with those who
could really use no-longer-needed, clean household items and clothing. New York
Governor Kathy Hochul recently announced that 200 Afghan refugees will be
coming to the Rochester area in a few months. Take what you wish to contribute
to their households to Saint’s Place or Mary’s Place* in Rochester, where newcomers can get
what they need to start out anew.
Develop or use a lending center for
tools as a way of reducing unnecessary multiplication. Make it a place for
sharing learning as well as tools.
Have you seen those neighborhood curbside
lending libraries? Take a book. Don’t bring it back. Leave another. Build a tiny library near the
road near your house.
As you look to downsize, be as generous as you can be so
that others may live. Give, but don’t buy more or more often. Think with Jesus about
where the real treasures of your life are.
~Sister Joan Sobala
Mary’s Place, 414 Lexington Avenue, Rochester, NY 14613 585.270.8626
