A Time to Cast Away

Flower Vendor, Washington D.C.

A Time to Cast Away

For everything there is a season,

and a time for every purpose under heaven.

A time to get, and a time to lose,

A time to keep, and a time to cast away.

Ecclesiastes 3:1,6

My father was a pack rat.  He could never get rid of anything because “some day” he might need it.  Dad had a large shop at the rear of our property, as well as a huge lean-to and three storage sheds.  There was a 1939 Chevy coupe filled with spare auto parts, a 1955 Chevy station wagon filled with hubcaps, and two partially finished Jeeps.  The lean-to sheltered tractors and small gas engines in various stages of restoration.  Inside the shop there were shelves of baby food jars and yellow Kodak film boxes, each with a different size nail, screw, washer, nut or bolt.  Each container was neatly stacked and clearly marked.  

I, on the other hand, have tried to teach my kids that “there is a time to keep, and a time to give to Goodwill.  The older I get, the more I realize that I don’t want to leave a house full of “stuff” for my children to deal with when I am gone.  I recently received a list of Fifty Things to Throw Away for Instant Decluttering.  I have worked my way through 20 of them, and am determined to keep plugging away at it.  The back seat of my car is full of stuff for a Goodwill trip this week.

Jesus advised, Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  Matthew 6;19-21

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Take my voice and let me sing always, only, for my King.

Take my lips, and let them be filled with messages from Thee.

Take my silver and my gold; not a mite would I withhold.

Take my intellect, and use every power as Thou shalt choose.

The United Methodist Hymnal, No. 399, Vs. 2