Faithfully yours - Cast off the clutter
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- Published on Saturday, April 30, 2016
By Neil Strohschein
The Neepawa Banner
In the world of motivational speakers, few can be as blunt as Tony Campolo. Several years ago, I was privileged to attend a conference for pastors and partners at which he was the guest speaker. In one of his sessions, he addressed the western world鈥檚 preoccupation with 鈥渟tuff鈥�.
鈥淲hen you first move out on your own,鈥� he said, 鈥測ou move into a small place with just your stuff. But since the place looks empty, you add more stuff to fill it. Then you get married. Now the two of you have too much stuff for one small place, so you go out and buy a bigger place to hold all your stuff. Then you have kids, you need room for their stuff; so you buy an even bigger place to hold even more stuff.鈥�
鈥淏ut the time comes,鈥� he continued, 鈥渨hen the kids leave home. But they don鈥檛 take their stuff with them. They get places of their own and fill them with new stuff. So now you have a big house, two older people and a whole lot of old stuff, which you have to get rid of when you move into a smaller, retirement-type home.鈥�
Campolo鈥檚 words apply to all areas of life鈥攏ot just to the possessions we accumulate over the years. Every one of us can (and probably has) allowed our lives to become so cluttered with interests, obligations and activities that keep us from being the best we can be in our professions and doing our best in the work to which we have been called.
Nothing in life ever happens by accident. God has given you a job and has gifted you with the talents you need to excel in it. He has blessed you with a family and has given you a home in a community specifically chosen for you. He has called you to do three things: be the best you can be at your job; love and care for your family; and be a cordial, helpful and caring neighbor.
Fulfilling those tasks will take most of our time and energy. We can鈥檛 afford to fill our lives with interests or activities that keep us from focusing on the three things God has called us to do.
But that doesn鈥檛 keep us from doing it. Holding membership and getting involved in one service club is a noble activity. So is spending one night a week playing golf with your friends or enjoying a recreational hockey game. The problem most of us have is that we don鈥檛 stop there.
We can get involved in so many different activities that before long, we are working 65 hours a week 鈥� 40 hours at our jobs and 25 hours in different community activities. And then we wonder why we fall asleep at our desks at work or have no energy to talk over serious issues at home with our partners and children. Our lives have become so cluttered that we鈥檝e lost sight of what God has called us to do 鈥� be good workers, look after our families and care for our neighbors.
There is only one solution for this problem. We have to cast off the clutter; stop doing the things that are robbing us of the time and energy we need to fulfill our divine calling. Then, using St. Paul鈥檚 words, (鈥淟ord, what wilt thou have me to do?鈥�) we seek God鈥檚 help to keep what we have cast off from coming back and putting us in bondage again.
