DOWNSIZING

Can “downsizing” be “uplifting”?  Well, it depends on who you talk to! These days you can either pare down to the minimum stuff that “brings you joy” (then fold it into an origami bird) or you dispose with abandon in “Swedish death cleaning”—before you die. Somewhere, there’s a happy medium.  I lean toward “less stuff,” probably due to once facing the enormous job of cleaning out my deceased parents’ home, plus having to minimize for many moves myself during my single years. And yes,  it’s time to pare down again….
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So here come two signs that wag accusing fingers at our tendency to accumulate material possessions:
Live simply. 
Gratitude turns what we have into enough.
Both distill Jesus’ teachings about “stuff”:
Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. (Luke 12:15)
Even fabulously wealthy King Solomon saw how “stuff” can entrap:
I have seen a grievous evil under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner.(Eccl. 5:13)
For 18 days in 1947, the New York times chronicled the story of the reclusive Collyer brothers. Police eventually found both deceased and buried under 103 TONS of clutter and garbage in their multi-story brownstone home. One had apparently died when piles of junk fell on him, burying him alive.

It’s not just having too much stuff.  It’s wanting more and more when we can get by with less. Far less. Back in the 1970s there was a popular faith conference series which passed out hearty red-covered note-taking binders to participants. The speaker addressed needs across the age spectrum, including being grateful for whatever material possessions God entrusts to us. The speaker’s teaching was this: “Contentment is understanding that if I am not satisfied with what I have, I will never be satisfied with what I want. Contentment is realizing that God has already given me everything I need for my present happiness.” I'd call that the uplifting side of downsizing!