With a start, I recognized myself in that story, only what I have been clinging to was not clothes, but books. I used to teach at Old Dominion University and there are bookcases in every room that hold the remains of that career. There are shelves upon shelves of material that I used, wanted to use or thought was too valuable to pass on because someday there might be need for it.
What is ironic is that few of these textbooks are ever opened. The Internet is my source of choice now and not those books which are full of context, but also out of date information. Some culling must begin.
The point of the author's story was that circumstances change and people must change with them. Who we are today is an outgrowth of who we have been, but holding on to things that are no longer useful merely makes our lives cluttered and increases the need for places to store the remnants. This keeps the Container Store busy, but puts off dealing with the emotions and moving on.
Most of us hold onto things because they hold memories, but often these memories stand in the way of making new ones. What might be hard to remember is that the now holds just as much promise as the past did when it was only a dream of a bright future.
Who we were is a gift God gave us, but God isn't stingy and who we will be can be just as enriching if this is what we ask for and expect. If our hands are open, God will fill them, but if they are full of the past, there isn't room for God to build a future.
There is no room left in my bookcases for what I brought home from Barnes & Noble today, but rather than get another bookcase, it is time to part company with some of what has been on the shelf for too long.
For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope (Jer.29:11).
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