Jun 9, 2009
Last weekend before I went on a retreat, I decided to clean out my room. It looked spectacular – it was vacuumed, the bed was made, and everything was neatly organized in preparation for the friends my family was going to host that Friday. It felt good to leave knowing I was going to come back to the peace of a clean room.
As I was on my way home last night I receive a message from my younger sister which said: “The pole in your closet snapped and the shelf came down.” I didn’t think it was going to be a terribly big deal until I arrived home and saw that the bolts and brackets had all fallen and left huge holes in the walls. It was not a mess I could easily clean up; rather, my closet was going to need major reconstruction.
My organized sanctuary had become a dusty, cluttered construction site. I had organized my room, but I didn’t take the time to get rid of the things I didn’t need anymore. Though my closet was full of color-coordinated clothing, it was packed full of unnecessary things I hadn’t taken the time to get rid of. My room looked organized, but it really wasn’t. And, in the end, it all came crashing down from the weight.
This whole ordeal made clear a crucial reality. I had tried so hard to create peace in my room, but I wasn’t willing to let go of the frivolous things in my room. There were dresses, shoes, books, and bags that I just couldn’t give away. It was because of these things that, no matter how hard I tried, my room could not become the place I wished it to be, and in the end it had nearly self-destructed. In our own lives we often desire peace, order and happiness. We work on exterior things and try to create a pleasant environment for ourselves. In the end, however, we never reach that peace or happiness we had hoped for. Many times it is because of the things we hold on to. Our hearts become full of these things and there is no room left for Christ and therefore no room for happiness.