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How to get the hell out
When I taught catechism to 5th and 6th graders, it was inevitable that there would be lots of giggling and mock-scandalized looks when reference was made to the word hell. It’s a legit word which means something all together different from something based on a Dante novel or creepy horror film.
In it’s basic form hell is “a place or state of turmoil or destruction” (Merriam-Webster), and in terms of faith, hell is “the state of complete separation from God for all eternity; it is experienced by those who decide to reject God” (see Loyola Press for more on Catholic basics).
We often use the term hell in colloquial ways, for example, when we say our day was hell or our office desk looks like hell, both of which refer to the basic definition of hell. We the living may also refer to hell as a present reality where we feel in a state of separation from God — not permanent or complete but serious and threatening nonetheless.
Once in a while those two worlds of hell collide. I’ve been meditating a lot on the passage from Matthew 12:43-45 where the unclean spirit is evicted from a person, goes out to find another home but can’t so returns back to the same person only to find everything neat and tidy. The nasty spirit then brings buddies “more wicked than itself.”
Sometimes being in a space that is “hell” (untidy, messy, disorganized) can lead to the other kind of “hell” where we are lured away from God. I find that when I have stuff all around me (stacks of papers or books, to-do lists, laundry, correspondence, etc.) or too much stuff (do I really need 17 sweatshirts?) I can get quite distracted from my focus on my relationship with God and my participation in God’s mission. I can feel myself saying, “Just a minute, God, let me just get this out of the way first.” And of course that “just a minute” might last a half hour, a day, a month, and can sometimes lead to a whole lifetime of “just minute”.
So what do we do? How do get the hell out of our daily life? How do we simplify, order, reduce, make peace with, etc., the swirl around us that can lure us into saying, “just a minute!” to God?
While not always successful, here are some of the things I do or at least aspire to do!
- Reduce sweatshirt inventory. I’m a nun, not a sports team promoter! I try to keep clothing, books, etc. to a reasonable minimum. There is no hard and fast rule for this and each person has to find that line of enough v. too much.
- Beg, borrow, and … share. Do I really need to own my own copy of the latest bestseller from my favorite author? No, no I do not. I’m getting better at making use of online resources, borrowing stuff from my sisters and family and friends, using online movie rental programs, etc. In turn, I try to share what I have so that others can also keep a handle on any looming hell.
- Discern the finer things in life. Reminding oneself of what one’s priorities and true values are can be really helpful in making choices to reduce all manner of hell. So for example, I do enjoy a good cup of coffee. So even though I’m out and about a lot, I try to keep buying stuff to a minimum and save myself (and my budget) for that one amazing cup of coffee. That’s a small example, but the same works for how we make choices about our life and how we engage in relationships. Is this what I really want to be about?
- Embrace the space. The temptation is great to fill up clean space with more junk — and this holds true for our physical space, emotional space, and spiritual space. Herein lies the apt observations of Matthew too. We get all of our stuff cleaned up, admire our effort, and then proceed to say, “Now I’ll just add this in because it looks great in this new space …” and so on. We’ve got to find ways to own our new space and tend to it diligently and regularly so that we don’t just open the door and let a bunch of gansta spirits take over again. I try to have my “space maintenance” time in the morning and at night — it includes solitude/silence, tidying up my living space, addressing and letting go of aggravations over which I have no control, and truly being at peace with the space and with myself!
- Hit the road. Sometimes we need a reprieve from the hell that we have created or that is threatening to overtake us. On a day-to-day basis I might go and sit in a quiet place outside or in a stairwell or something. When I am in need of more, I might spend the day at the park or go on retreat, or hang out with my family, or read a wildly engaging novel. These are good times for rest and recovery so that we can be re-energized to head back into the thick of things with a new mindset, some creative ideas, and a grounding in our deepest self with God.
Ever try any of these things? What other steps work for you?
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{ 12 comments }
I’m with you! Maybe it’s not sweatshirts though . . . . maybe it’s CDs. I think the Spirit is calling us (religious) to simplify. I hope the young women who come to religious life can help us in this call.
In today’s economy, I think that people coming to religious life have a very different sense of simplifying. Some of my friends who are in college or early in their professional years have had to make some key choices about what to have or not have in order to pursue their goals to be educated and trained.
On a separate but related note, as religious congregations we might have to rethink what we do with folks who come to us with education debts. At one level I want to say Thank God these women remained faithful to their call to be educated/trained! Let’s not let that bar entry to religious life! At the same time, it’s a major issue to factor into discernment for both the discerner and the congregation. (just had this issue come up earlier so it’s so on my mind!)
probably the single best blog i’ve read on here.
i purged myself of a huge lot of “stuff” a couple of years ago, a tenfold increase on normal “spring cleaning.” it freed my mind. it freed my body.
i make myself purge material goods every couple of weeks now. my home is very sparsely furnished now. books and dvds are my biggest problem areas. oh, and drugs. my bedroom loos like a hospital sometimes, between the medical equipment and the 14 meds i now take daily (plus 4 doggie meds).
sometimes, when my house gets too mucked up with stuff–junk mail, real mail, laundry, etc., things i sometimes cannot take care of right away, i feel myself begin to panic. i pay someone to come asap and help me organize; most times i get it done before i go kookoo for cocoa puffs and start pulling my hair out.
if i could de-clutter what’s in my head–my fears, my thoughts, my dreams–i think i could give up hell altogether. i will keep working on it.
Yeah, giving up hell altogether is something I’d like as well. Though I must say, to hell’s credit, it does keep me sharp and on my toes!
I heard a wonderful homily on this passage once – about how we as humans were not made to tolerate voids in our lives…If we give up something bad, we need to fill up the space that’s left with something good, or those demons will just fly right back in. Anybody who has tried to kick an addiction of any kind knows how that works. I guess the rub is in finding the right “good” to fill up that empty space so that our former temptations toward the unhealthy do not overtake us again. Not easy, and requires lots of prayer & help, I have found. As far as the clutter of life, I think the key is in the sense of attachment to one’s things that is important. I have known some people who had very few material goods but they were very miserly with what little they had – and on the other side, I have known some very wealthy folks who shared generously and would have been just as happy had it all been taken away in a breath. I have found time and again in my life that when I have become satisfied and content with what I already have and feel blessed to have it, God always blesses me with more than I could have hoped for. I guess it is true that when you can be trusted with small things, you will be trusted with great things. Wonderful post – thank you Sister Julie.
Karen, I could totally relate to that thing about not tolerating voids! I remember way back in science class talking about how any kind of gas will always fill the entire space of a container.
Great point about attachment … We can let one thing or a million things enslave us … either way, we are enslaved! Goal is to be free even when one thing or many things are in our lives!
“Nature abhors a vacuum,” and so does Button!
I call my vacuum “The Big Yellow Noisy Thing” because the kittehs generally flee in terror from it.
Wonderful reflection. I too, have been working at simplifying my life – clearing out the clutter that distracts my wold. Some, I’ve discovered is unavoidable. (There will ALWAYS be laundry to wash or dishes to clean) and I will ALWAYS have a pile of papers from school or my house that need looking through. However, there are other things that can distract and detract – spending too much time online (oh Facebook!) – or focusing too much on one area in my life (like work) instead of keeping balance – remembering to keep that quiet space reserved for me and God to communicate. The things around us, electronic or otherwise, seem to create “noise” – they get our attention and hold it – keeping us from the things we ought to be doing. Last summer, I decluttered a lot of the extra stuff in my apartment, and I could still go through and do more. I have a lot of books and DVDs, many of which are “for school” but sit on my shelf year after year. I tell myself, well, I might teach Ancient China (or whatever) again, so I need to keep that book…and so the collection grows… (I think teachers are born packrats anyway) … but, in truth, a lot of those books could be donated to a school library or pedagogy collection.
To go along with this, and the reflection of others, I am working my way through this book: Make Room for God: Clearing Away the Clutter. There are a lot of really helpful insights and suggestions in it.
http://www.amazon.com/Make-Room-God-Clearing-Clutter/dp/0867167785/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1319058686&sr=8-1
I too have been working on purging, in truth, ever since I moved into this apartment four years ago. Nothing like no storage space to motivate you to purge! Coming from a such-a-packrat-if-I-hadn’t-started-purging-I-fear-I-might-have-become-a-hoarder background, at first it was very slow going. But now that I’ve been at it for some time, it’s a LOT easier and it feels SO GOOD!!!
I still have a long way to go, but I am making progress. I can’t wait until I can look at my space and feel like it’s clean. Really, truly, decluttered and organized clean.
Books are my major weakness as well. I’ve always been the embodiment of the quote “If I get a little money I buy books; if anything is left I buy food and clothes.” I’m slowly starting on that too, however… I recently recycled a massive amount of magazines I had hung on to, and pulled a bunch of books I read as a kid and hung on to for sentimental reasons and am giving them to friends’ kids. Baby steps!
Wonderful post; #4 is a great reminder especially. I can be good about clearing space, but definitely have the tendency to fill it back up. I like the idea of leaving things simple and uncluttered.
And, I’m with you on #3! Good coffee is a requirement.
Most of my clutter is mental clutter, and to escape from that Hell I go to the beach. I’ve been known to frequent beaches rain or shine, wind or snow. The last time I was feeling depressed and generally out of sorts to the beach I went, hurricane Irene be damned. It’s where I find peace, solitude and God. It’s where the angels whispered to me my new name and it is where I feel most at one with the earth. Love and light, Mireille