Thinning My Life

A couple of months ago I read a wonderful thought in a book by Alicia B. Chole entitled 40 Days of Decrease, in which she wrote about “thinning” our lives.  It is actually a book about Lent, and a different kind of fasting than we most normally think.  I liked her ideas because I have been trying to do the same thing.  My terminology is not so eloquent; more, I just want to get rid of all the “stuff” I don’t need!  Actually, I feel encumbered to do this now, at this stage of my life; to purge, “big time”!  I say this because my age definitely puts me on what I call the ascending side of the hill of life – closer and closer to my eternal home in Heaven.  I want to leave my personal things in order and easy to handle when God calls me Home.  If I “thin my life, I can thicken my communion with God”, and that certainly appeals to me!

Isn’t it true that the majority of us reading this spend our lives accumulating things that we think we “need” – gadgets, tools of a trade, hobbies, essentials for living, clothing, books, shoes, dishes, outdated “things” that are too nice to throw away?  Then, at the end of our lives we are burdened with getting rid of all we have!  We all can exist very well with much less than we think.  I give my brother credit when he and my sister-in-law moved from their home to an apartment for sake of ministry.  He told me that it felt very freeing to be done with the responsibilities of home ownership and all that comes with it!  Hmmm!   Even though some of my things are of some value, I am of the mindset just to give them away to places where they can be used for true needs.

I’ve been thinking all of this since I am feeling some urgency to “purge” but haven’t had the energy lately due to daily migraine headaches.  I wonder if there could be a serious health problem looming in my future; I’m not afraid but I just don’t feel “ready”; I don’t have things in order!  This thought caused me to chuckle recently when I remembered something my sister said when we were young children living in Tokyo, Japan, with our missionary parents.  My grandparents were so good to send us boxes of our favorite things that we could not get in Japan.  It was food like popcorn, favorite cereal and crackers, cookies, sometimes candy.  It was books, crayons, games; sometimes clothing or shoes.  We always looked so forward to a package from America or a long distance call from Ohio.  (Remember – this was 70 years ago; long before internet or Skype or Zoom.  Airmail letters or audio cassette tapes could take as long as two weeks in transit.)

One day, after such a fun package arrived, my sister commented that she sure hoped the Lord didn’t come back before we had time to eat all these delicious treats!  We laughed and understood her feelings.  I am feeling the same way about my stuff; I hope I can distribute my unneeded things in a timely manner that will benefit others.  How about you?

Not all of our packages were so excitedly received.  I will always remember a box that arrived from a missionary group at one of our supporting churches.  Can you imagine our feelings as a family when we opened a box of clothing with the buttons cut off and the zippers cut out?  We never could understand the thinking behind that gift; probably well intended but very misunderstood.  It did make an indelible imprint on my mind, but we forgave and went on, and lessons were learned.

Hebrews 12:1 says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God”.

Alicia Chole also wrote “God seems more interested in what we are becoming than in what we are giving up”.  Think of your purging “less as a project but more as a sojourn with the Savior”.  I love it!  I believe that God will bless us!