While spring in Northeast Ohio may seem more like Winter II, there is an incredible excitement when daylight lasts longer and the reality of nice weather, green grass and budding plants seems just around the corner.
About this time of year, I often feel myself getting stir-crazy and restless indoors, and this causes a strong desire to de-clutter and organize my life. The desire and need to de-clutter one’s life is not unique to me. Netflix’s popular show, "Tidying Up With Marie Kondo," spotlights this reality when, for one reason or another, people find themselves overwhelmed at clutter in their lives, and often have difficulty parting with what is unnecessary. Marie Kondo, a master tidy-upper, shows up and turns their lives upside down, challenging them to let go of unnecessary things they cling to.
In so many ways, the season of Lent is a time when we, as Christians, are called to de-clutter the messes that often impede and burden us from being who God calls us to be. What kind of clutter fills our lives?
- Maybe the clutter is destructive behaviors or activities that don’t align with who God calls us to be.
- Maybe the clutter builds as we cling to certain relationships that are selfish and don’t lead us to authentic encounters with Christ.
- Maybe the clutter is when we buy into the deception and illusion that our worth or value is determined by the values of the culture rather than what we learn from sacred Scripture.
- Maybe the clutter builds when we place higher priority on things that are fading rather than God, who is the source of all our desires. God who was, who is and always will be.
- Maybe the clutter is amassed from pain, anger, sorrow, or hopelessness we experience in life.
- Maybe the clutter is when we find ourselves overwhelmed by pressures to be someone we are not.
No matter the cause, the clutter can overwhelm us and leave us feeling burdened and sometimes hopeless.
Lent prepares us for the celebration of Easter, which is about new and unburdened life. Christ takes on the clutter and restores a sense of order for those who openly seek his love and grace. Take time this Lent to intentionally confront areas in your life that do nothing but distort who you really are. Make use of the sacrament of confession to encounter God’s love in a profound way, and share that love and compassion with those who are hopeless. Use your gifts and talents to serve others and strengthen the Church as Christ’s hands and feet in the world. In order to do this, you have to de-clutter by letting go of some things you cling to and cling only to Christ, strengthen your prayer life, and allow the Holy Spirit to animate you!
It’s time for some serious spring cleaning…new life is just around the corner!
