Simply Advent

I am a chronic pile maker.  Throughout our house you will find carefully constructed piles of mail and paperwork, piles of children's art work, piles of children's homework, piles of books I've read and loved, piles of books I've read and been indiffent to, and piles of books I haven't read yet (because I'm not sure if I'll love or be indifferent to them).

I accumulate stuff like an insatiable vacuum.  Papers, books, games, toys all seem to attach themselves to me.  And I find places for them.  I pick them up at second hand stores or regular stores, on-line or from friends, but it's always more, more, more.  And I'm beginning to realize that all of this more, more, more actually feeds me less than the pure unadulterated delight of sledding with my children, playing a game of Pinochle with Jeff, walking our dog in the snow or sitting in my rocking chair, staring at the faint glow from the first Advent candle.

My stuff taunts me.  There's a pile of books in the corner of the bedroom which I bought at a library sale in Canada this summer.  At the time their siren's call hit me just where I couldn't resist (I'm weak-willed around books):  "Take us home with you.  Think about all of the extra room in your car.  We'll make sure you're never  SOL."   (Sadly Out of Literature--my 10th grade English teacher's warning.)  And now as I look at them across the room they plea, "Just let us stay here a little bit longer.  You haven't wanted to read us yet, but you will, you will.  It maybe be 20 years down the road but someday you'll walk into this room and be glad you kept us."  
 
But not today, books.  Today is the first day of Advent and this Advent I'm declaring my liberation from my stuff.  Each day from now until Christmas I'm going to endeavor to remove one garbage bag's worth of trash, recycling and give away from our house.  

Advent is the time of the prophets.  Each day the Church reads another passage from Isaiah, Jeremiah, Malachi, Baruch, and many others.  The prophets call us back to what is really important, our relationship with God and with others.  And now my relationships are a little bit cluttered.  I need to spend less time managing, shuffling, cleaning and reorganizing my stuff so I can sit in my rocking chair and stare at this candle (and then go to bed without falling over an abandoned pile of books).