I’m 71 years old. I have spent about 60 of those years accumulating stuff. And I have been pretty good at it. So has Cindy. Old stuff, new stuff, useful stuff, frivolous stuff. I have piled my stuff up in my house…….literally surrounded myself with it………you might say that I am buried in it. And I must say that I have really enjoyed my stuff. Most of it is tools and toys. I love working…..and playing…..with my stuff.
Lately, however, my relationship with my stuff has been changing. The experts who study life expectancy tell me that I have about 13 years to live. And if the next 13 years are anything like the last 13…….. they will be gone in a flash. This has led me to an epiphany. I can control my stuff. I can decide what to do with it and who gets to use and enjoy it. I have legal pieces of paper that prove that my stuff is mine. It belongs to me.
And yet
In a few short years, none of that will matter. I will die and all of my stuff will be distributed to other people……most of whom I don’t know…….most of whom I have never met. My stuff and I will be separated…….permanently and completely. Then it hit me. This big pile of stuff is not mine. It never was. I was simply a temporary custodian.
So…….what’s the point?
The point is that my relationship with my stuff has been fatally flawed for the last 60 years. And in about 13 years……give or take……that error will be rectified…….suddenly, perhaps brutally. It will be corrected without my input……without my permission……regardless of what my stack of papers says. My death will trigger the ultimate……100%………”estate tax”.
And so, I begin the work of redefining my relationship with my stuff. Some of this work is easy. The attic and the crawl spaces of my house are packed with stuff that is just this side of trash. I am hauling it to the dump…..one truckload at a time. Some of this work is emotionally very hard. It goes to the core of who I am. It goes to the heart of what I value. It is an indicator of my identity.
What it comes down to is this. In about 13 years, I will die. The only thing that l will take with me is my relationship with the guy who created me. That will be the only thing that will matter. This huge pile of stuff that I call “mine” will instantly become utterly and completely irrelevant.
So what are the implications?
First, I need to begin working on my relationship with my creator………God. I am headed for a face to face conversation with him. And I need to begin that conversation now……because if I don’t start now…….it could be really awkward. This conversation will occur…….whether I recognize God or deny him. It will be the most important conversation of my life. And I will not be in charge……of the conversation or of any decisions or consequences that flow from that conversation.
Second, I need a new attitude toward my stuff. Because, it really isn’t mine……..it never was.
These two things are true. This is crystal clear to me at age 71. But, it is also true for you………even if you are 21.
for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”
Jesus explaining “stuff”, in Luke 12:15-21, ESV