“This is why I am telling you not to be troubled about getting enough to eat or drink, or what to wear. Is eating, drinking and clothing yourself all there is? Does your life not have more meaning than this? Look to the winged ones who soar on the wind. Do they plant seeds and gather the harvest into a storehouse? No! But your Creator from above gives them plenty to eat. Do you not know that the Holy One cares even more for you? Can worry add even one more step to the length of your life’s journey?” (Matthew 6:25-27, modified from the First Nations Version: An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament.)
Spring always brings out this desperate urge to clean, remove, refresh and restart things for me. I don’t know if it’s the increase in sunlight to be able to see the dust lingering on my blinds or the increase in sunlight that allows me to have a bit more energy to see said dust, but my house suddenly feels like I haven’t cleaned in years. But more than cleaning, I want to clean out and get rid of stuff.
Last week, I found myself tackling a different cabinet or shelf every night of the week. My bathroom closet was purged of over eight extra flower vases. My bookshelves parted ways with two trash bags full of books. My garage freezer gave birth to hidden things that forced me to come up with some creative recipes.
After I dropped my bags off at Bishop’s Attic, I found this clean, empty space much more peaceful and relaxing. I don’t think of myself as someone who collects “stuff” or wants a lot of extra things around, but, here I am. As Alaskans, we need to have some backup for when we simply don’t have access to things — it’s a practical thing for survival. Spring cleaning forces me to address what I think I need, versus what I’m afraid of living without.
These verses that Jesus shared with his disciples in his teaching has popped into my head several times over these last few weeks. This reminder that God provides and that the earth provides reassures me that it’s not about what I collect or gather or hoard, for the sake of not knowing what is to come.
One of my freezer clean out concoctions was a rhubarb crisp. I always hold onto rhubarb and other fruits to make a nice midwinter dessert. I allowed myself to make the last bag of rhubarb into a crisp because rhubarb is in no short supply in our community. I don’t have rhubarb on my property, but I know I can easily ask several friends.
My hope in this reflection is not to shame anyone in their collections or their savings —really! My hope is to invite you into the space of reflecting, of asking, of being curious about what you have and why. Then, depending on your faith tradition (or non-tradition) to trust that spring shows us that the earth provides and that there is new life, even when we can’t see it. The earth is breathing new life these days; let’s breathe and trust in what bounty our world has, in the ground, in the seas, in the skies, and among one another.
Pastor Meredith Harber ministers at Christ Lutheran Church, 128 N. Soldotna Ave. Worship at 10 a.m. on Sundays in person or on Facebook Live.
