book meme and more

I saw this book meme at a few blogs last year, and this time around Elizabeth and Dawn are tagging everyone, so I grabbed the closest book, which was in a pile of "to be put away", The Incarnation Birth and Infancy of Jesus Christ by St. Alphonsus de Liguori. I had this out during Advent, as it is full of beautiful meditations and prayers for Advent and Christmas. I will soon be exchanging it The Passion and Death of Jesus Christ to read throughout Lent, which is fast approaching.

Rules:

1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.

Discourses for the Novena of Christmas, Discourse VIII. The Eternal Word from being Rich made Himself Poor.

"Once, when a certain rich man died, who was damned, St. Anthony of Padua published his damnation from the pulpit; and, as a sign of the truth of what he said, he told the people to go to the place where he kept his money, and that they should find the heart of that wretched man in the midst of his money. And they did actually go, and they found his heart still warm in the midst of his money. "God cannot be the treasure of anyone who retains affection for the goods of this life; therefore David prayed: Create a clean heart in me, O God."

How appropriate! Last time I was at the library, I checked out It's All Too Much; An Easy Plan for Living a Richer Life with Less Stuff by Peter Walsh. I read about this book over at A Gypsy Caravan and have been following Rebecca's progress as she works her way through her house. Peter counters all my excuses in Chapter 2 (incidentally, the first 3 excuses that he lists are the ones I most often use):

#1: "I might need it one day"
"Clutter stops us from living in the present."
#2: "It's too important to let go"
"Clutter makes us forget what's really important." and,
#3: "I can't get rid of it - it's worth a lot of money."
"Clutter robs us of real value."

Now, although he is writing in secular terms, it is so easy to apply these words spiritually, echoing the words of scripture, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal. But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be." Matthew 6:19-21.

Reminding myself, again, of what Abby Sasscer wrote in Chapter 2 of her (free) e-book, "Many organizational self-help books will often have a chapter on decluttering. However the word itself sounds a little too practical. I prefer to use “detaching” as there is a sense of mortification when you detach from the things of this earth. The act of decluttering then becomes an opportunity to exercise virtue rather than a chore, task or goal to achieve.

I could go on and on - relating this to the corporal works of mercy and good stewardship of our possessions, but we have a big house and it is full of stuff. Leave me a comment if you do the book meme (or just do it as a comment).