What are the things that just aren't going to matter any more?

My Story:

When I started to realize that, as a member of the HUB team, I would be asked to share my story, I was terrified.  How could I possibly be that open and honest to tell what was really going on inside of me in response to each week’s message?  And how could I possibly tell the whole story in just a few minutes time?  As I thought more and more, I realized… There’s no need to tell the whole story, lord knows they don’t have time for that…  As I was preparing for our final week of book study this week, my story was finally given to me.

When I was growing up, there was a constant cycle of throwing or giving things away.  Clothes got too small, we gave them away.  Toys became boring or too simple as our developing minds mastered the concepts they were teaching, we gave them away…  School papers were completed and graded, we threw them away, but there were those sentimental things that we would hold onto that would have special meaning that we still have today.

Somewhere around high school, I started having a harder time getting rid of things, especially in College.  I knew I had spent money on those books and architecture magazines, and reading assignments I had failed to complete.  The notes I had taken that I planned to review one day… They still had so much value I could gain from them if only I would sit down and read them. 

There were those pinterest projects I loved that I rushed out and bought all the supplies for, knowing I had the skill level not to end up on pinterestfail.com if I just took the time to work on it.  There was all that art supplies, because an architect is supposed to know how to draw, right?  And one day, one day I’m going to have time to get around to practicing again.

There were those clothes that I fit into in high school and my early college days.  I had gained so much more than the freshman 15, but held onto them in hopes that I could enjoy wearing them again one day.

As I moved from apartment to apartment things began to accumulate, to the point that I now have an official “junk room.”  Over the past two years I have chipped away at this pile of stuff that I have toted around with me.  I still am.  Anyone who has seen the trunk of my car can attest to the fact that this task is not yet complete.

 

***

A few weeks ago, I was enjoying a tech-free weekend in the mountains.  I highly recommend it, and as much as I think we take for granted the concept of a “retreat” in our first-world society, there is truth in getting away to gain some perspective on life.  

That weekend, I realized that so much of my life has been focused on who I am today, and not who I will be in the future.  That many generations will come after me, and I have the opportunity and responsibility to make a difference.  In that moment, my life zoomed out to where I was a tiny speck, and I saw all those who had come before me, who had shaped who I am today, and all those who would come after me.  I will have died and gone on to heaven, but here on earth, a legacy will be left behind.  As I began to look at my life from that perspective, I asked:  “What am I doing today that won’t matter to the generations that will come after me?  And more importantly, what can I be doing today that will?”

I’ve sat with that question for a few weeks, and as I was preparing for our final week of book study this week, the story of cleaning out my house suddenly melded with the perspective I had gained that weekend in the mountains.

 

***

 

You see, after throwing away 4 years of architecture magazines, and staring at volumes of the next four years, I thought to myself “One day, I am going to get rid of this stuff.  Will it make any difference that I have held onto it until then?”  When I was reading this week about the call to follow Jesus, wherever, whenever and by letting go of whatever is keeping you back, I thought of that question.  It’s not the physical stuff that holds us back, it’s the holding onto grudges, being caught up in past relationships, being consumed by gossip, an addiction, self-centerdness…  But the same rule applies as that for getting rid of the physical stuff: One day, I’m going to have to get rid of that stuff.  Will it make any difference that I had held onto it that long? 

Think about the things that just aren’t going to matter at the end of this week, at the end of this year, when you’ve achieved that professional license, when you’ve met that deadline, when you’ve met that guy or girl that God has planned for you to be with, when you’re holding your first child, when your best friend is facing a serious trial, when the person you see as your enemy faces a horrible tragedy, when one of the needs of this world that you’re currently ignoring suddenly becomes an epidemic, and most importantly, when you’re gone, and only your legacy lives on.

What are the things that just aren’t going to matter any more?  Will it make any difference that we’ve held onto them that long?  And what can we avoid accumulating in the first place?  What are the things we can be doing today that will matter? 

A very wise Snapple cap once shared an Emerson quote with me:

"Knowledge is when you learn something new every day, wisdom is when you let something go every day.”

There was comfort in holding on to those books, clothes, and art supplies, just as there was comfort remaining angry with someone who had hurt me, and allowing my frustrations to affect those around me, but in the end, there is wisdom in letting go, because there will come a day, when that thing just won’t matter any more, and it won’t make any difference that I had held onto it that long.