Bigger Barns

Tags

charity, donate, excess, harvest, Jesus, Luke, parable, possessions, rich man, share the wealth, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Yesterday afternoon I began to make an inventory of one category of clothing (t-shirts and blouses) in my closet, drawer and storage bin. I only made it through the closet and storage bin when my phone rang and derailed the project. I was, however, already getting uncomfortable with how many items I had found in the storage bin. I had put them there as winter approached for the exchange with the heavier, more appropriate clothes of the season. The discomfort arose from the fact that July ends today and I have survived quite well with what I have found in my drawer and closet to wear since the warmer temperatures arrived in the spring. My dilemma today (after I pull everything out of my drawer) will be which items I will surrender to my favorite charity, Rural Services of Chenango County. I am usually moved to donate what doesn’t fit me any more or what I have not worn in the past appropriate season but this time I feel a push to dig deeper. It is the first time I can remember surrendering something still serviceable that fit me and that I really liked without too much angst – good practice for the inner tasks of letting go.

In today’s gospel passage (LK 12:13-31) Jesus tells the story of the rich man with the bountiful harvest whose solution to having too much to store is to build a bigger barn. I smile at God’s synchronistic joke and promise to remember that goad to surrender as I finish my project today. I have no plan to die soon with an overstocked closet but who knows? So I’d better get busy, my goal being to share the wealth and – just maybe – eliminating the storage bin altogether! (Even if only by next year…)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bigger Barns

Tags

baby boomers, clutter, fool, God, greed, harvest, Luke, possessions, rich man, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, treasures

One of the words heard very commonly today, especially from “baby-boomers” in my circles, is downsizing. When our houses become cluttered with things that are no longer needed or useful, especially clothing, exercise equipment, gadgets or the like, we begin to wonder about the advisability of getting rid of some of them. Sometimes the divestment can be quite painful if what we have has been precious to us in the past. How can I possibly give away my wedding dress or the bicycle that might someday become part of my exercise program…? Even though we may not count ourselves in the company of the greedy, it is easy to see how we can slide into the “too much is never enough” category. (I did actually buy a small bookcase this year – to add to the other three in my bedroom…just for my studies, of course.)

The gospel this morning (LK 12: 13-21) is rather stark in its commentary on greed and the acquisition of too many goods. Luke recounts a parable about a rich man who, when faced with a bountiful harvest, plans to tear down his barns and build bigger ones where he can store not only his grain but his other goods as well. His vision sees him, when the building and storage is complete, saying to himself, “Eat, drink and be merry!” But God calls him a fool, tells him he’s going to die that night and asks what will happen then to all that he has stored up. The moral of the story is a good one for us to consider. Jesus says: “Thus it will be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God.”

So I guess I’d better get about considering what matters to God and at the same time start thinning out my library…and clothes closet…and cache of mementos…