Cleaning House

In these thoughts today I use the phrase ‘cleaning house’ to connote something other than the use of a broom and dustpan or a bucket of soapy water. Neither do I necessarily use it in the sense of being victorious over some opponent. But the phrase does have utility because I have been contemplating the foot-dragging task of going through my personal ‘treasures’ and things which are to me of value but in reality will be devalued and discarded by whomever might someday have to go through them.

I more keenly recognize the necessity of doing this house cleaning because of the imperative of my taking part in cleaning out, with my brothers, the effects of my dad who died early this year and of his house which burned down just a few months ago. My mom, who has Alzheimer’s disease, has no possessions other than the clothes she wears and has nothing else, including her cognitive and expressive abilities (deep memory we are not sure of). She has left a very positive record in the lives that she has touched and a record in heaven of her life that will be restored to her when she passes on, but nearly every material thing she and dad valued is now gone.

My own books and papers, of course, are of value to me. Lesser so is some of my sporting gear (I even have my Wilson 1957 Ted Williams personal model baseball glove, my 1962 tour blade golf irons, and my 1964 Head skis). Having disclosed this I know I might be judged as a hoarder, but other than these few anomalies I am not. The sporting gear, old clothes, and other material things can go, but it is wrenching to me to discard the things I have written which define who I am and books that I have read that shaped me.

Fortunately, I am strongly convinced that the record of my life, contributed to by many, is etched on my character and will remain with me on my eternal journey. I just don’t want to carry up the remaining mountains I must climb anything that could hamper my climb or that would impede me in my efforts to help others with theirs. Repentance is the process of jettisoning the immaterial encumbrances, but where does one start with the material things?