I’m sure most of us realise the need to declutter from time to time… getting rid of the junk, sorting through the rubbish we accumulate, tidying, spring-cleaning… whatever we like to call it. There are countless programmes about this type of thing on TV: how to make your house attractive to sell it, how to live more simply, getting rid of things so that you can live more simply. Decluttering, downsizing, getting back to basics… all these synonyms point to a less materialistic lifestyle which, hopefully, results in a less stressful way of living.
As we approach the Lenten period when we reflect on the last weeks of Christ on earth, leading up to His death and resurrection, this is perhaps as good a time as any to think about decluttering our spiritual lives and getting back to basics. Our souls get cluttered perhaps even more easily than our houses, and we need to be careful that we keep Christ first and foremost in our lives, in central position, not relegated to a tiny corner of our hearts, but being pre-eminent in everything.
That means letting go, clearing out, spending time with God.
Have you been walking on a surface that’s uncertain?
Have you helped yourself to everything that’s empty?
You can’t live this way too long.
There’s more than this, more than this.
Have you been standing on your own feet too long?
Have you been looking for a place where you belong?
You can rest, you will find rest.
You can rest, you will find rest.
Let this old life crumble, let it fade.
Let this new life offered be your saving grace.
Let this old life crumble, let it fade, let it fade.
Have you been holding on to what this world has offered?
Have you been giving in to all these masquerades?
It will be gone, forever gone.
It will be gone, it will be gone
Let this old life crumble, let it fade.
Let this new life offered be your saving grace.
Let this old life crumble, let it fade, let it fade.
(Jeremy Camp, ‘Let It Fade’)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h843f2GXie0