I’ve only watched a couple episodes of Hoarders and that’s all I want to watch. We will keep everything from twist ties to TV sets. The emotional, sentimental and psychological attachment we may develop with our things is shocking! There are memories connected to each and every little thing we’ve hoarded.

One episode I saw involved a woman who tied herself into a chair at night while she slept so that she wouldn’t fall into the garbage that flooded her house, a lot of which were disposable diapers filled with her own excrement. To get these people to de-clutter requires all kinds of support from family, friends, clergy, psychologists and sometimes even health and legal authorities.

The greatest part of the task of transitioning and becoming spiritually independent is de-cluttering our religious stuff. Our lives may be crammed full of religious junk that we’ve collected over the years. Each and every one has emotional, sentimental and psychological importance. Each and every one has a memory connected with it. We really do believe we need to keep each and every one of them.

To let them go, to throw them into the dumpster, is often attended by an enormous amount of fear and sorrow. But with just the right amount of courage from ourselves and coaching from supporters we can de-clutter our lives down to what is genuinely essential.

What do you need to de-clutter?

(*** These daily breads are written by me just for members of TLS. Rarely do I share them on nakedpastor. They are for our members because we are open to the idea of spiritual transition and independence, and I want to help in that process. However, you may forward these posts to anybody you think will benefit from them.)