Gentle Reader,
Missed the chat. Missed writing. Missed sending out last week’s newsletter.
I was up in the snow-covered woods with a bunch of teenagers.
I have many thoughts on that. Later.
Kate says: convenient.
Go.
Marie Kondo teaches us to ask, “Does it spark joy?” If there is no joy, it goes. Aside from the spiritual undercurrents swirling around her ideas for dealing with clutter and organizing your life (please, read her book and watch her Netflix show with discernment), her question isn’t a bad one. What are the things weighing us down? What do we need to let go of in order to move forward?
Ah, but it’s a double-edged sword, isn’t it? Because some of the things that weigh us down are, in fact, things that we do need to keep. Things we need to wrestle with. Things for which we need a new perspective. If we chucked anything and everything that doesn’t draw out our smiles, that isn’t immediately convenient, we would be hopelessly selfish creatures, entirely lost in our own ever-changing whims and desires.
It is less about sparks joy in us and more about what sparks joy in the heart of our Father.
Even when it’s not convenient.
Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him, and he will act,making your righteousness shine like the dawn,
your justice like the noonday.Be silent before the Lord and wait expectantly for him;
do not be agitated by one who prospers in his way,
by the person who carries out evil plans.– Psalm 37:5-7 (CSB)
Stop.
