Something about the start of a new year makes me want to clean closets and go through boxes. I want to get rid of the accumulation, par down, and simplify. Each year, I get rid of a little more as my priorities evolve.

Not long ago, my husband and I emptied a tall file cabinet in the garage. We hadn’t examined the contents in years. Old work files. Old tax files. Old binders full of PTA campaigns and organizational materials. Elementary school newsletters I had written. Fliers and brochures I created for various groups and events.

There was satisfaction in throwing out notes from former bosses (Why had I kept them?) and committee reports that reminded me of past disputes. But it was a little harder to discard favorite articles and projects. I repeatedly had to ask myself, “Who am I saving this for?” Undoubtedly my daughters don’t care about this collection of clippings from my past.  Most retained no practical use, even the stuff I couldn’t let go of just yet. (Breaking up is hard to do!)

Hanging onto stuff has a tendency to keep us anchored to the past. 

As I reflected on what was accomplished, however, a broader truth occurred to me. This was more than emptying a file cabinet. The act of hanging onto stuff has a tendency to keep us anchored to the past.  Cleaning out keepsakes helps relax our grip on regret or misplaced pride. It makes room for what’s next. I don’t need things to prove my value.

Have you ever noticed how God will put the same truth in front of you several times in different contests as if to say “Hey, this is important. Pay attention!!!”?

That seemed to happen a few days after my husband had shredded the last pile of paper. An advert for a book called 40 Days of Decrease popped into my email. 

It is a book on Lent. I didn’t grow up with Lenten traditions. Over the years I have observed others wanting a cup of coffee or a cupcake only to complain that they had “given it up for Lent.” But it didn’t seem like this sacrifice brought them any closer to God. It just made them grumpy. (I know that this isn’t true for everyone.)

This book examines the power of decrease in a new and refreshing way. What if we fasted the things in life that encumber? What if we followed Jesus to freedom? Instead of giving up TV for 40 days, what if we fasted escapism in general? What if we fasted accumulation? Regret? Comparison? Author Alicia Britt Chole notes “Jesus lived a truly uncluttered life…” An uncluttered life with a laser-like focus on what is most important appeals to me in a very deep way. I long to live with greater intention.

So as I celebrate the cleaner spaces in my garage, I am pondering the power of decrease in my life.

Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.

Isaiah 43:18-19