STUFF

Packing to leave home this time was (as it always is) a real lesson in priorities. I really went wild this time, getting rid of so much stuff that a sister I live with scolded me saying, “Michele, you’re moving, not dying!” The winnowing out was an exhausting process, because each little thing I picked up was a decision point, shaving off a little bit of my earlier choices and personal history.
But it was a very free-ing process– I even shredded my journals dating back to 1985 (sorry, if you were planning to use them to advance my cause for beatification!) and there was a real sense of starting over, of beginning a new chapter, of turning my face toward the future instead of looking back over my shoulder at the past. It must be how a tree feels after shedding this season’s leaves.
I think as a matter of self-preservation I will be working even harder to practice the sacrament of the Present Moment: just do THIS thing now and focus on it, rather than trying to anticipate all the problems I will have all week (my strategy of the past.) Maybe with practice I will manage to get a C+ in “present momenting” before I die! It’s a worthy goal, anyway.
May every moment of the rest of Advent help lead us to that moment that shall be timeless,,,