"You have nothing to fear..."

This summer has opened my eyes to a lot of things.

I have seen what the work of priest looks like from the inside of a parish. I have been a part of the hours of tedious work that goes into a fifteen minute sermon.

I have felt the pain of criticism from parishioners over my theology. I have felt the sting of solitude, sitting alone in a parish hall waiting for people to show up...to no avail.

I have felt the joy of support from family, friends, and strangers. I have felt the radical hospitality of a family who treats me like one of their own.

The thing that I have learned more than anything though has to do with me, and only me.

I love things. I love to buy things and have things and be around my things. My things have begun to define me.

This is a problem.

I realized this when I StumbledUpon a poem by Littlebear, called "Who are you?"

"You will not leave this place carrying more than you arrived with, so tell me, of what value are material things? You cling so tightly to your imagine self, yet who are you, really? You have nothing to lose, Dear, but your fear of loss."

That changed everything. That poem put my soul onto paper.

Tomorrow I go back to Harrisonburg for the weekend. It will serve as my rediscovery of self.

Out with the old and in with the new. I will spend as much time as is needed to declutter and free myself from the trappings of material possessions.

It will take work. Physical, spiritual, emotional. It must be done.

"You have nothing to lost, Dear, but your fear of loss."

Peace.

CBG