As I pack up my house and prepare to minimize my life into a backpack, I realize how attached we have become to the world around us. A lot has changed since Jesus first called followers to, "leave everything and follow me." Leaving everything to the original disciples and followers of Christ probably meant leaving a home they built themselves, an extra tunic, a few belongings that were handmade, and possible friends and family members. They took whatever they were wearing and survived on God's grace, often never seeing their homeland or family again. Now He says, "Leave everything…" and it takes me, or us, weeks or months to cancel contracts with about 15 companies, it is neccesary to have multiple yard sales or sell hundreds of belongings online, and we must alert our hundreds of "friends" that we are not going to be around. So, we go with much less than what we are comfortable with, still of course, having the necessities such as a computer, phone plans, sensible shoes, etc. The implication of leaving have become so much greater since we are so much more attached. I am shocked by how difficult it is to break attachments I didn't even know had hold of me. "Live simply so others may simply live" -my wish, my struggle
