It doesn’t take a genius to realize that humans, starting at a very young age, tend to gather stuff. I observed this firsthand with my grandkids and any child I’ve had the good fortune to spend time with. “Mine,” shouts the toddler, and thus begins the desire to acquire.

It requires superhuman virtue to fight this acquisition disposition. A few years ago, I remember saying to our family regarding gift giving, “I don’t want any more stuff. I’d much prefer to make memories together.”

What does that mean, mom? Significant conversation, memorable meals, walks with lively dialogue, or sitting together and absorbing the beauty around us. It costs nothing and means everything.

All the cool stuff the world has to offer will never fill the emptiness within. We realize this more profoundly as we sprout grays and develop wrinkles. When we are young, we want to make our mark. Bigger homes, fancier vehicles, and extravagant adventures are all signs of our success in pursuing the American dream.

When the kids went their separate ways after college and began forging their journey, I couldn’t wait to downsize, dump the pool, and simplify. There would be no more nasty dust rag bushes to trim, lawns to mow, or twenty-foot-high windows to wash.

The adage, “You can’t take it with you,” holds true. My husband, the Deacon, who does lots of funerals and committals, has never observed a U-Haul trailing behind the Herse. Think about all the storage centers packed with memorable stuff doomed to be locked up rather than given to those who need it the most.

So, what should do we do with everything we receive and acquire?

There are lots of minimization sites and organizing gurus to follow, and frankly, I’m just as bad as the next person. One of my daughters was organizing my cupboards a couple of years ago and quipped, “Mom, you aren’t a caterer anymore; you don’t need twenty tongs.” I thought to myself, “Ya never know.”

I still have twenty tongs.

Maybe I’ll bequeath each grandchild a pair of tongs.

I think, the problem has more to do with the sentimentality attached to the stuff in question. I can’t get rid of that dress; I wore it to so and so’s wedding. Smiling to myself at the memory, I pull it back on again. Yikes!

This sets off a chain reaction of needing to try on all the dresses I couldn’t part with. Problem solved. Keep the memories; donate the dresses.

It might be hard to part with Uncle Clyde’s bag of sand from Normandy, great-grandma’s never-used china or that incredibly obnoxious painting your sister gave you, still lurking in the closet.

It’s got to go, my friend, and here’s why: if you aren’t actively using it, maybe somebody else can.

Years ago, Cardinal Francis George was addressing big donors in the Archdiocese of Chicago and said, “The poor need you to draw them out of poverty, and you need the poor to keep you out of Hell.”

I believe this statement demands deeper reflection. Discerning whether I am stubbornly clinging to my stuff, or how to generously share my abundance with others less fortunate.

What do I have that I am not using?

Why do I keep this______? Would my soul be better served by helping someone who can use it?

When was the last time I used/wore this?  

Do I want my children to have to go through all this stuff when I am gone? (and thinking unkind thoughts about me while doing so?)

God has a heart for the poor; so, must we. Stuff is stuff, after all. I am going to spend this Advent reflecting on Scripture to help motivate me into action.

Proverbs 14:31, “Those who oppress the poor revile their Maker, but those who are kind to the needy honor him.”

Matt 25:40, “And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’”

Luke 3:11, “He said to them in reply, “Whoever has two tunics should share with the person who has none. And whoever has food should do likewise.”

1 Jn 3:17, “If someone who has worldly means sees a brother in need and refuses him compassion, how can the love of God remain in him?”

Join me in this effort by making this preparation for Christmas a beautiful gift of self to a brother or sister in need.

Be sure and check out Hallow’s pray 25 for Advent and prepare well spiritually for the coming of the Lord. https://hallow.app.link/OO1ytpU7ZOb

My Exciting News to Share

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