Clutter

Photo by Dimitry Anikin from Pexels

I have always loved reading articles that equate a messy desk to genus level intelligence. Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein, Mark Twain, Thomas Edison - they all had messy desks. To the annoyance of my husband, Craig, I proudly join these folks in having a messy desk. In fact, I might get special treatment for having both an unkempt desk in my study at the church AND at home!

Does that make me a double genius?

But never fear - I know where everything is (most of the time).

The pandemic has caused many people to grab what they could from their work offices with the thought of setting up at home for just a few weeks. Those weeks turned into months. The months into a year. Talking to my best friend the other day, she told me that she does not remember what she left at work on her desk. She feared that she may have left some breakfast bars or snacks in one of the drawers thinking she would be away days if not weeks. Her building in the Loop (where most of the skyscrapers are in Chicago) has been locked...so what they took is all they have.

She, like me, has a messy desk I am sure.

Yet there is something cathartic about decluttering a bit. I am not talking Marie Kondo style, but I am talking about how good it felt to have cleared up a bit at the church office. It makes me think about what truly is embedded in all the Lenten traditions. The prayer. The fasting. The moving spiritual and personal “stuff” around a bit to make room for what is about to come. It gives us a space to take a deep breath and evaluate what we have been doing over the past year - remember it has now been Lent to Lent that we have been in this pandemic. Perhaps we are given a gift of evaluating what truly is important in our lives. I will leave that “what” definition up to you.

What can you declutter in order to make space for whatever the future may hold?

Please take note of our Lenten and Holy Week offerings - they will lead us into the Easter Season with great promise of the resurrection and the offering of in-person worship opportunities.

Peace,

Pastor Jason