Do they have a show on TLC or HGTV that focuses on redecorating your garage? Maybe, but I’m guessing it wouldn’t be as popular as transforming your kitchen or bedroom. Popular or not, that’s where my wife and I were on Monday, in our garage with a lot of hardware from The Container Store contemplating the possibilities of creating more space. One of the first tasks in this process, of course, is taking stock of what we have and deciding what to keep, what to donate, what to trash. Snorkeling gear we bought for our honeymoon? Keep, because you just never know when we’ll go to the Cayman Islands again. Guitar I bought more than 20 years ago? Donate, as much as I’d like to think I’ll play again in the near future. Old intercom? Trash. Why were we keeping that around anyway?
Not all of the decisions are easy. We have sentimental attachments to our stuff and it’s hard to let go. As we got to work, it didn’t take long for me to to start reflecting on other kinds of stuff I store in my head and heart (when you’re a professional religious person, you tend to see metaphors in lots of places).
There are more than a few things I wish I could let go of, donate, or trash. I sometimes hold onto grudges way too long. I wish I could more easily trash petty annoyances that eat at me. Of course, there are other things I’m happy to keep. The days when I’m able to slow down, be attentive to each moment, and take in the wondrousness of God’s creation. The instances when I’m aware of a holy courage that enables me to overcome fear.
It’s helpful to take stock of this stuff in our souls—even on a daily basis—and ask for God’s help to have the wisdom to know what to hold onto and what to let go of. It’s not easy. We can become attached to our shortcomings (or, in more theological language, our sins). But when we say good-bye to these behaviors and attitudes, it leaves more room for things like love, forgiveness, grace, and kindness. And that’s a reorganization worth going through.
