Our home is full of things acquired over decades. Days I once spent shopping, I spend hauling loads to various consignment and thrift stores. This process of letting go made me think about the wisdom of Scripture. I don’t want my possessions to possess me. At first, letting go of what I’ve treasured feels like a loss, not a gain. Seeing the gain takes time and spiritual eyes rather than physical ones.
Letting go became easier when I saw how God turned my losses into a blessing for someone else. For example, one downsizing day I decided to find a new home for a box of fabric pieces. I offered them as quilting supplies in an online marketplace. The husband who claimed them said they would be a surprise for his wife. Although multiple sclerosis limits what she can do, she can still sew, he said, adding that these scraps would hopefully encourage her to make the quilt she’d been talking about. My loss became a sign of his devotion to her.
This message is excerpted from “Letting go” by Kathryn Haueisen in the July/August 2020 Gather magazine. Today we commemorate Maximilian Kolbe, 1941; Kaj Munk, 1944; martyrs. Today is the Tenth Sunday after Pentecost.
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