Divesting

Many years ago now, my mother bought me a book called, “Journeys of Simplicity,” by Philip Harnden. It is a book of collected lists. “Most of these lists came about from journeys people have undertaken: place to place, day to day, birth to death. Each list simply describes what was carried, often in a rucksack, sometimes deeper within the traveler.” 

It’s really quite fascinating. Included in these lists are the possessions of Thomas Merton in his hermitage, Henry David Thoreau at Walden, Annie Dillard in her writing tent, John Muir on his thousand-mile walk to the Gulf, and others. 

The Author begins the book by telling the story of Pang Yin. Twelve hundred years ago in China, this middle-aged man loaded everything he owned onto a boat and sank it all in the Tung-t’ing Lake. After that, we are told, “he lived like a single leaf.”

Harnden writes, “See him there in the early morning, treading water in the middle of the lake, watching the last bubbles rise from the depths. The air crisp and quiet. The lake misty and as still as sky. Then turning, stroking toward the shore.” Leaving it all behind.”

“After that, he dedicated his life to his family…”

“What would it be like to live like a single leaf? What would it mean to make one’s life a journey of simplicity? a journey of focus and intention? a journey of lightness and light?”

Often during the season of Lent, we think about fasting, giving up something to create space for God to work in their lives. This is not necessarily a fast from food, though some people do. Others might fast from alcohol or technology – or something else they love. And in that fast, when they feel pangs of hunger – or pangs of craving – it puts them in touch with a deeper craving – a deeper hunger – a hunger for God himself. 

Perhaps we could also think about this, not just in terms of letting go of physical objects, but also letting go of any burdens we carry, any crippling fears, or unrelenting worries, or jealousies, or past wrongs that weigh us down. 

St. Augustine observed that our hands and hearts are often too full to receive the good things God offers us. 

I wonder what you might consider surrendering/letting go of today so that your journey might be a little lighter, a little freer, and a little more open to the grace and mercy of God.

Let us pray: God of Grace, sometimes it feels as though we are carrying the weight of the world on our shoulders. Help us to empty our hearts and minds as we hand over to you again our worries, our anxieties, our fears, or anything else that may be distancing us from you or others. Grant us your peace; through Christ our Lord. Amen.