Love only what can love you back
Published 12:00 am Saturday, March 2, 2013
There’s a storage unit near my home that I admire every time I pass by. I’ve occasionally said, “If I ever have anything to store, this is where I’ll bring it.” The person in the car with me, usually my husband, typically responds with a comment such as, “The way you get rid of stuff, you’ll never have anything to store.” Remarks such as these are likely criticisms, but I choose to take them as compliments.
It’s true. It’s not a question of being right or wrong. I just don’t enjoy hanging on to many things. I’m quick to give away items I no longer use and throw away things that cannot or should not be used. A transcript of my son Geoffrey’s thoughts at this point of the story would read, “What about all of your journals?” I would have to admit he is correct. Journals, pictures and anything my children have written are tucked away in a file cabinet, pretty boxes and on my computer’s hard drive. Other than that, I don’t keep much.
Nor have I amassed any interesting or valuable collections, unless you consider a file cabinet, pretty boxes and a hard drive a collection (Geoff does). My friend Amy used to scour the city of New Orleans in search of the best and the brightest objects to add to her mother’s owl collection. Finally, after opening another year’s worth of gifts bearing the images of owls, Amy’s mom took the floor. “I have an announcement to make. I am no longer collecting owls. I am now collecting diamonds.” Hmmm… now that’s an idea…
I just figure the less I own, the less chance I’ll have of becoming attached to things. I think my daughter Elise is beginning to feel that way as well. At the end of a recent trip to a large city, during the daylight hours, at a gas station on the side of a busy highway, her purse was stolen while she was putting gas in the car. It was the purse her boyfriend gave her. The one containing her matching wallet filled with identification cards, a couple of credit cards, and $5 in cash.
You could never tell by looking at her, but trust me, Elise has a feisty side she doesn’t try to hide. After cancelling her cards, filling out a police report and identifying the thieves on the store’s security cameras, Elise came to the conclusion that from now on she will carry her belongings in a Ziploc storage bag and use a rubber band to secure her money. (This might be a good time to add “dramatic” to her list of character traits.)
I waited until she took a breath, then said, “I’m just thankful you weren’t hurt or kidnapped.”
“Oh, no,” she began, “if they had touched me…”
I had to wait a few minutes before continuing with the advice I heard from a young man after Hurricane Isaac. “Love only what can love you back. Insure the rest.”
Jesus’ advice was much better: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21
Being generous, willing to share with those in need, investing time in people and acts of obedience to God are a few ways of storing treasures in heaven. I like to think there’s a storage unit in heaven awaiting the treasures I am to send. When this is my priority, my chance of growing attached to things on earth greatly diminishes.
It’s also my belief that when our priorities are in order, God provides time for hobbies we enjoy, whether it’s sports, travel, housing antiques that have been handed down, organizing scrapbooks for the photographs we have stored in boxes or adding to whatever collections hold our interest.
Oh, and if our collections become too large, there’s a storage unit near my home.
Ronny may be reached at rmichel@rtconline.com.