This is a reprint of my most recent church newsletter article. Maybe “The View” will be my theme for the year.
The view from my desk is more cluttered this week than usual. The packing has begun both in my office and at home. Despite the “cleaning” that Katrina provided, I still have a LOT of stuff. And I’m leaving a LOT of stuff too. One of the “values” of The World Race is “abandonment”. To “abandon” some of the things of this World. Jesus traveled light. He sent His disciples out in Luke 10 without even a bag!. He even told His followers that He didn’t have a place to lay his head. That’s one of the “values” I hope to learn during The World Race. I want to learn to live with less. To travel light. To be unencumbered by the things of this world. To be unencumbered by the worries of this world. It’s not like I don’t enjoy owning a home. And I do enjoy owning all the “toys”. But the reality for many of us is that those things “own” us. There’s a reason why we feel uncomfortable in the comfort of our comfortable homes when we see those late-night “Feed Somebody” infomercials. I think it’s because we were created more for feeding somebody than for feeding our “self”… our image, our desires, our greed, our vanity. It’s really difficult to live for “self” and for God too. Jesus told us to deny self, take up our cross and follow Him. You don’t have to go on The World Race to do that. But it’s one of the reasons why I’m going.
