It's Wednesday ... guest blogger day. :) Take it away Diane ...
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Ahhh … the sweet smell of newly budding grass and flowers, a different array of birds at our feeder, glorious sunlight hours stretching longer into the day..Spring is here! The physical and spiritual worlds unite in a special way this time of the year. The dead of winter makes way for the new life of spring just as the death to self that occurs during Lent creates room for the new life of Easter that buds in our souls. This is a great time for some spring cleaning and what better way to start than with de-cluttering ... our homes and our souls! I know I always feel so much better after I have done a good purging in our house! A couple times a year, I like to get rid of as much unnecessary "stuff" as I can ... clothes, DVDs, games, toys.
We have all heard the rule of thumb that you should get rid of anything you have not used/opened/put on in a year. We might as well let someone else use it ... " your trash might be someone else's treasure." Take advantage of a neighborhood garage sale or even better ... donate the things to a charity that is hosting a garage sale. Our parish holds one every year, and we are happy to contribute annually as it is mutually beneficial!
Last Fall, I even held a mini-garage sale at my home ... but it was free for friends and family. I figured that people have been soooo generous to us through the years, that it only seemed right to share the bounty with others. Whatever works best for your style, spring is a great time to take advantage of the burst of sunshine and energy associated with the season while helping your family be freed from all the "stuff" that can bog them down.
As Spring is just beginning, we are now about halfway through the Church season of Lent. This is a perfect time to conduct some spiritual de-cluttering as well. Recommitting to our Lenten fasts might be a helpful step this week as your will power may start to wane. (It’s amazing how many feast days I can suddenly be compelled to celebrate as I look for excuses to break my fastsJ) You might also want to ask yourself what is cluttering your spiritual life and thus preventing you from having room for God. Busy schedules, email, facebook, errands and housework are not bad things, but if we do not keep our priorities and choices under God's watchful guidance, they can "clutter" our days and prevent us from living each day as He would have us. I love the image of our souls being like a vase. God's grace is the water that fills it. He can only fill as much as we give Him. If we are jamming as many flowers in the vase as physically possible, there will be less room for the water. While the flowers in and of themselves may be beautiful, they lose their attractiveness if they are smashed between many others.
This image begs two questions: How big of a vase do we give God? A bud vase with room for just one flower and little water (grace) -OR- a large container that can hold a big, beautiful bouquet and requires lots of water? Secondly, what are we filling it with? Carefully chosen flowers with room for movement or as many random flowers off the side of the road that we can stuff in? For the remainder of Lent, maybe we could try to fast from things that are cluttering our "vases" and be more selective in what we put in them so we have more room for the Creator and His Grace.
Happy Spring!
The "free" garage sale was brilliant!! I was happy to become the proud new owner of a toddler bed (well, I would've been thrilled if she would have stayed in it!) The more stuff we give away the more space we are creating which allows God more room to work! (less clutter, more time for other things/PEOPLE). Great food for thought! Thanks for the insights Diane!
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