Living Lightly

Yes. I know, Lent started 5 days ago on Feb. 22 (Ash Wednesday), BUT, I’ve spent the past few days pondering what I would focus on this Lent. I’m late, but I finally have a plan. Traditionally, Lent has 3 components – Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving. Prayer and Fasting are relatively easy for me since I’ve basically followed the same routine for many years:
PRAYER – Continue my morning prayer but add deciding how I’m going to do the Alms part each day.
FASTING – Don’t eat sweets except on Sundays. Skip lunch on Fridays. These are a small taste of being in solidarity with the poor plus they prompt me to remember to do the Alms part.
ALMSGIVING – This is new each year and harder to define since it isn’t just about giving money but more about giving my time. Part 1 is that I plan to resume tutoring at a local city school.
Part 2 is harder to define but involves trying to simplify the clutter and chaos that still lingers around my home so that I can donate more stuff and clear my mind of searching for stuff hanging around my cluttered desk. This is the hard part so I’ve spent the last 5 days procrastinating and clarifying my plan for the remaining 35 days of Lent.

THE PLAN:
Starting today, Feb. 27, I commit to:
1. A Room A Day
Spend at least 15 minutes a day reviewing a room or closet and choosing things to donate, recycle, or discard. If I include bathrooms, closets, and the garage that’s 15 spaces. That means I can do the circuit twice and still have one “grace day” a week to account for illness, hectic days, or forgetting.😊. Of course that 15 minutes could expand to an hour once I get on a roll.

2. Reorganize/Prune Paper in my Office
Spend at least 15 minutes a day dealing with paper. Right now I have too many piles of paper around my desk. Some in neat piles, others on the floor waiting to be organized. I also have:
– 2 filing cabinets filled with files
– 4 crates of binders
– 4 bookcases packed with books
– Slots for 24 different newsletters
– a case full of supplies for talks
– miscellaneous office supplies hidden under an unused ping pong table

All of these need to be pruned so I can find things more easily and let go of stuff that are unlikely I will ever need to refer to again. (Of course unless I do ☹) Again, I may extend my 15 minutes but I figure I’ll never start if I don’t commit to the initial goal of at least 15 minutes. After all, that’s how I accumulated the existing piles that came under my “I’ll clean this up tomorrow” mantra.
I’ve done this kind of pruning before but apparently it is a never-ending process. Besides, what am I going to do if some visitor decides they want to play ping pong.

PS: I just “spent some time” with a friend and told her of my “paper pruning” goal. She suggested scanning many of the papers and filing them in the cloud. It would still take some organizing, but it would free up a lot of file cabinet space. Hmmm…

PPS: Readers, you may be well into your Lenten practices, but if you’re still looking for ways to sacrifice your time and decide to try pruning paper, let me know how it goes.

I’ve been struggling for a while to discern what a conscientious, faith filled person can do about global warming, i.e. environmental sustainability. On one hand trying to live more lightly on a personal lifestyle level is concrete and feels satisfying. I can be careful about what I buy for my home, avoid unnecessary plastics, live simply, donate to good causes, do works of service…

Lots of people making personal sustainable lifestyle choices like these is good, BUT it’s not enough! It’s only half of the equation. Intellectually I know that systemic change is necessary too. Society (that’s us) needs to change how we do business. Governments, companies, and institutions need to change laws, policies, and structures that perpetuate the production of climate damaging acts. This often takes:

• Educating myself and others on possible actions to take.
• Political action like going to lots of meetings, speaking up, writing in the public arena.
• Protesting unfair institutional practices and doing the legwork of researching and supporting alternative positive practices.
• Contacting civic and community leaders. (Signing petitions is the easy part.)
• Donating not only clothes to Goodwill but money to organizations that work for change.

The price of these systemic change actions is not only financial but also takes time and resilience. I may be willing to let go of some recreational or social pursuits (think TV or contra dancing), but it can also bleed over to taking time from my family or a paying job. It can also add stress to my psyche, spirit, and personal relationships.

Solutions – The systemic change part of doing good is harder for me than the personal lifestyle adaptations. For others it may be the opposite. Working on political change may feel like a meaningful challenge as long as I don’t have to give up meat or plastic at home. 🙁

Bottom line – Of course, both personal lifestyle and systemic change are necessary to be a person of integrity who walks the talk. The challenge is to assess one’s talents, resources, and personal leanings and find a balance. It probably won’t be a 50/50 balance, but neither would a 99/1 balance be authentic.

How – Of course personal reflection/prayer is necessary, but in most discernments that are this multifaceted I remember that community is important. Consulting with others who know me well, share my values, but are not afraid to challenge me and look at both sides of an issue is a step in the right direction. It takes a community – a wise and diverse community.

How do YOU do it? See my ECO-TIPS for additional ideas.

PS: On May 20, a friend (Mark) sent this additional water tip:
Before showering, try this process to save water:
1) Get in the shower & get completely wet,
2) Turn off the water & soap up from head to toe,
3) Turn on the water one more time to sufficiently rinse off the soap,
4) Turn off the water,
5) Get out & dry off.
I’ll add that, whenever I wash a car, I use pretty much the same process & have a hose nozzle that stops the flow when I release the trigger.I notice a lot of people don’t use a nozzle & just let the water run from the hose & down the driveway from beginning to end.

As Ukraine continues to be in the news with heart-rending stories and photos of human suffering, massive destruction, and the looming hardships of a cold winter without heat, electricity, and possibly food for its citizens – it’s sobering.
I can’t help but realize how relatively safe and comfortable my own life is. Sure, there is poverty in many places in the world and even in my own neighborhood. Families everywhere face deaths, emotional traumas, and hardships, but… when I reflect on my own life and my bubble of friends, I feel called to humility and action.

What have I done to deserve my privilege, my comfort. Sure, I work hard, I donate to worthy causes, serve in the local soup kitchen, etc. but the scale of suffering in Ukraine, and places like it around the world, put me in a favored place. I keep asking what more am I called to do? Do I need to keep stretching myself till it hurts?

Then, last week suffering got personal. I got Covid. It’s not a bad case. I was already vaccinated and boosted, but still I felt crummy for a few days. This too called me to reflect on how a couple years ago, Covid might have been a death sentence. Even today, it means quarantining, canceling a medical test, missing in-person meetings, etc. It’s inconvenient but not life threatening.

Both of these experiences (reading about the people of Ukraine and the physical discomfort of Covid) prompt me to humility and compassion for those who are facing much more serious life struggles. Upon reflection, I realize that it is through noticing the pain of humanity around the world and close to home that I become a better person myself.

• I don’t as blithely carry on with my day wondering why another person missed a deadline or didn’t follow through on a commitment.
• I feel called not only to pray for those in need but to figure out more tangible actions to take to turn the prayer into action.
• As my world opens wider to the sufferings of others through the media and my own relatively minor physical ailments, I am moved to a deeper compassion. Life’s not all about me and the tasks I busy myself about.
• Although I don’t want to minimize the serious pains of people near and far, it has been an emotional wake up call for me. Tuning in to the suffering of others has deepened my spirituality.

If these experiences are a wake-up call, then what is my next step? I already feel maxed out with work and volunteer commitments. I’m deeply involved with efforts to reduce global warming. Should I do more? Or is this primarily a call to identify more deeply with suffering humanity and let go of my pride?

How do YOU deal with suffering – your own, others, and global injustices? What helps you know what actions to take and when it is enough?
I also welcome any thoughts you have about steps I might take to move from concern and compassion to action.

Truism: It’s easier to prune someone else’s books than your own.
How do I know this? My husband recently retired. For part of our professional careers we shared a job so we have many books and reference materials that have relevance to both of us. So… when Jim was clearing out his office of books he asked if I wanted to keep any. It was relatively easy to say “No” to almost all of them. BUT, this didn’t absolve me from the task of finding good homes for his books.

My pruning process consisted of:
1. Categorize the books to be donated into types such as spirituality, family ministry, social justice, peacemaking, misc.
2. Find people who might be interested in these types of books.
SOLUTION: I took books to several upcoming meetings with friends and gave away about 10.
3. Find places that take used books
SOLUTION #1: I donated a large box of books to our Parish library plus an empty bookcase to put them in.
SOLUTION #2: Take miscellaneous used books to a local Half Price Book Store. I hoped to make a small profit from this. I did – I got 28 cents. At least they didn’t go into a landfill.
SOLUTION #3: Take miscellaneous used books to the local public library. I didn’t do this but it may have been a better use of my time than the Half Price store.

14 empty 3-ring binders

4. Bookcase related supplies: I found 14 empty 3-ring binders originally intended to hold workshop materials.
SOLUTION: The Cinti. Recycling and Reuse Hub happily took these to distribute to schools.
5. Beyond Jim’s books: This prompted me to consider all the other books we have in our home. Should I also prune them? This task felt daunting since we have 10 bookcases full of books. Pruning these remaining joint and personal bookcases will be much harder. This is more than I want to tackle right now.
SOLUTION: For sanity’s sake, Delay.
6. Copies of books I’ve written: I’ve written 5 books and one of the publishers sent me several boxes of my books that they are no longer printing. These are currently stored in boxes in our basement.
SOLUTION: I recently took a bunch of my books to a talk I was giving about marriage and family life. I offered them for half price. (Sold about 10). I’m willing to extend this offer to others plus shipping.
7. Additional Resource: 20 Places to Donate Used books by Joshua Becker (includes many of the usual places plus a few creative ones you may not have thought of)

The Bigger Question
Why save ANY paper books when the internet and public libraries exist?
I will explore this more deeply when I have the courage and credibility having tackled my remaining 10 bookcases. My short answer is to keep:
1. Books that are frequently re-used – for example cookbooks and books to re-read to children/grandchildren)
2. Personalized Books – such as personal journals or anything with personal notes or memories

What criteria would you use?

What do old medicines and trophies have in common? They both have a limited shelf life.

I recently rediscovered stuff in both categories as I was cleaning for company. Since our house has 4 bedrooms and Jim and I only need one, we happily welcome guests. Of course during Covid most people weren’t visiting so we didn’t pay much attention to the extra rooms. Even offering to house homeless people, desirable as it might be, seemed questionable.
But, as Covid appears to be waning, we welcomed several out-of-town friends to stay with us. This meant that space we had neglected to clean for awhile was not only dusty but hadn’t been pruned in awhile. Two categories became willing victims – a medicine closet and an old storage chest.

Medicine: Gratefully we’ve been pretty healthy, but during our child raising era there were various prescriptions and over the counter medicines that I am embarrassed to say ranged up to 20 years past the expiration date. I did some research and disposed of most of it.
In addition, the medicine cabinet was home to non-medicines like spray starch and a candy thermometer. Does anyone still starch shirts? A local yard sale took these items.

Trophies: We’re proud of our kids but we needed to move an old chest to make room for our guests. It was heavy, partly because it contained a lot of our kid’s trophies.
To lighten it we decided that many trophies we were saving for our adult children could be passed on (at least to the one child who had his own house). He can decide whether to save them. We pitched the medals but saved the trophies for kids who didn’t yet have permanent housing. For other ways to pass on trophies click here for my earlier blog on trophies.

Soooo, how long to save old medicines and your children’s trophies can be tricky but it’s worth your time to check whether you’re hoarding any unnecessary stuff.

As we approach Palm Sunday and Holy Week, I am aware of how unusual this Lent has been for me. Perhaps for you too. My usual basic Lenten practice is to give up sweets. This is not a significant sacrifice, but rather I consider it a daily background reminder of this season of transformation. When I am tempted to reach for my usual lunch desert candy bar or dinner Klondike ice cream bar, I am reminded of the bigger sacrificial changes I am trying to make in my life – like living more simply, devoting mega time to social justice causes, really changing my lifestyle; or even this year’s plan to clear my desk area of paper clutter. But this Lent has been different.

Instead of a mammoth give-away effort or major lifestyle changes, I spent about half of Lent half a world away in Singapore for our son’s wedding. This hardly feels like a sacrifice. But…we work with what life (God) gives us. This year Covid travel requirements, a different culture, and lack of a daily routine jerked me out of my typical Lenten sacrificial mode to muse about life in general.

• Maybe it’s the constant disturbing news about the invasion of Ukraine,
• Maybe it’s a growing awareness of the precarious future of planet Earth as we know it,
• Maybe it’s reflecting on how our children’s lives may be altered by the above,
• OR, maybe it’s just getting older.

I don’t know. Regardless, I’ve been thinking a lot about ultimate things, like

1. How big is the universe and can human-like life exist on other planets (like TOI-674 b)
2. How/when did creation of the universe start?
3. What is the essence of what I call “God” who I think of as the creator of the universe?
4. Is there really a God and life after death? I choose to believe these concepts. It brings me comfort to envision a place of being after death, but… I have no certainty. Death may be nothing more than my body returning to the earth and being the source of new plant life.
5. Would I live any differently if there is no God, no afterlife? Probably not. But my life feels more meaningful by connecting with a spiritual, God-like being.
6. Are the above musings what Lent is supposed to be for me this year? OR should I just organize those loose papers?
7. Am I the only one thinking about these things?

So… how would you answer the above questions?

Hmmm, my Prayer & Fasting during Lent are going OK, but the Almsgiving is eluding me. I had decided (rightly I think) that almsgiving should be broader than just giving money. I now define it as not only making donations to charitable causes but giving my whole self. Thus, choosing a way to serve others by donating clothes, household items, and my time, is also almsgiving. Fine. Over the years I’ve done plenty of those practical things.

As I evaluated my life and time during Lent 2022, however, it seemed to me that pruning the many papers that were cluttering my desk and office would be a worthy project since, once done, it would simplify my life, help me do things faster, reduce distractions, help me focus. However good this might make me feel, it was a self-help project that didn’t exactly feel like service or very spiritual. I partially followed through on my decision to spend at least 15 minutes a day clearing paper clutter, but I didn’t make much progress.

I had to face the reality that life and projects keep getting in the way. I wondered if:
1.  Maybe pruning paper was the wrong choice for a Lenten practice.
2.  I just let too many other priorities get in the way.
3.  I was avoiding it as it would take too much time; was too emotionally draining.
4.  I was just being selfish/lazy with my time.

Enough self-flagellation. Eventually an answer came to me in prayer. My papers reflected the evolution of my life. They documented each of the jobs I held and the various groups and movements that I have been committed to.

Just for fun – short diversion: My folders, file cabinets, and piles of paper fit an alphabet of categories: ANAWIM, FCGG, IOMLC, MISC, MLC-NA, MSJC, NACFLM, PACA, PPJ, UD, VOTF…
(If anyone wants to play the game, How Well Do I Know Susan Vogt, see how many of the above you can identify? Winner gets a can of alphabet soup.)

But, on to what spiritual lessons are hiding behind my papers and letters. As I ponder which papers to pitch and which to file better. I am realizing that this Lent I am taking an interior journey through my life. Part of the trip is letting go of earlier formative resources that may no longer be needed.

The more recent side trips are inner excursions into what is the purpose of my life? What gives it meaning? In the end, I am more than meetings, Zoom calls, social justice projects, and a pile of papers. It all comes down to loving creation – both human and nature. Some relationships are easy to love – like my family and those who think like me.
Others are more challenging – like those who are mean, think differently from me, or spiders. Maybe this Lent I will come to more peace with the latter? It’s all about unconditional love.

PS: To balance all this amorphous spiritual stuff, I bring myself down to earth by remembering that there are people seriously suffering right now on planet earth – not just on paper. I still must do something to ease the suffering of the hungry, the homeless, the unloved, the lonely. News of people suffering in Ukraine jar me back to the present and the need to act, not just pray, give money, and push paper.
What is mine to do? What is yours?