Last Saturday, I spent hours romping on the beach with the kiddo. We were thrilled by what was the first comfortable - when it comes to weather, anyway -weekend that we've seen in Miami in weeks. So, yeah...outdoors we headed.
Springtime, I often believe, is God's reminder to us that he cherishes play and exploration. Plus, somewhere along the way, God taught us that spring is also a season for purging.
Interestingly enough, yesterday I watched a couple of episodes of a show that documents folks who struggle to do this very thing: purge. TLC's Hoarding: Buried Alive follows families who literally attempt to climb over their mountainous problem of compulsive hoarding. As it turns out, some 2 million people in the U.S. suffer from this disorder. It isn't merely an issue of harmless pat racking, but a deeper complex that prompts men and women to collect things despite of the functional, sanitary or social impediments.
Take, for instance, Chris, a young professional who had never invited his lover - nor anyone else, for that matter - to his house in over 2 years. "Normal life," to Chris, meant storing decades-old newspaper, collecting withered boxes, stacking rusty tools and climbing waist-deep clutter to enter other parts of the house. "You live here?" his shocked girlfriend, Annie, squealed as she trekked into the townhouse. "Why do you live like this?!" Annie pleaded.
on symptoms of compulsive hoarding include the urge to acquire coupled with a sense of responsibility. In other words, hoarders feel like they are operating frugally or nobly when they collect possessions, even if said items are damaged or worthless.Also called disposophobia, or "fear of disposing," compulsive hoarding is the immediate result of three breakdowns: "information processing" - such bewilderment when deciding upon an organization scheme; "beliefs about possessions," or how well one is able to separate self from possessions; and "emotional distress about discarding," which results in panic over not having control of one's possessions.
What is interesting is that hoarders often have other ailments such as dementia, Alzheimer's, schizophrenia and anorexia. It's most often seen in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). In fact, about 25-30 percent of OCD patients also battle compulsive hoarding. This disorder divides families, specifically when authorities remove children from condemned homes.
Christ warned us of treasuring things. "What good is it,” he asked "if you gain the whole world but lose your soul?” (Mark 8:36) He told us to instead store our treasures in heaven, where moths and rust won’t deteriorate them, nor will crooks steal them (Luke 12:33).
Living in excess means that we're not living in victory. It's not by happenstance that HOARDING sounds a heck of a lot like the word HORRIBLE. Christ knows we need the basics. Still, he urged his followers to not take thought about tomorrow because He has us covered (Matt. 6:25). Elsewhere in the Word, someone penned, "Once I was young, and now I am old. Yet I have never seen the godly abandoned or their children begging for bread” (Ps 37:25). Isn't that dope? God has us COVERED.
Are you a hoarder? What's smothering or drowning you? Could it be that you're treasuring technology, food...your dough, wardrobe, celly or even your boo? It seems that the hardest lessons for us young adults to master are those of contentment or simplicity. Ask the Holy Spirit to infuse temperance into your daily life. Be purposeful about cutting back. (Oh, I'm speaking to myself right now, for he's showing me to cut back on eating!)
With Christ, life overflowing ironically means life of just enough.
Ana Guthrie is a super cool chick with a heart for God and love for youth culture. She doubles as a not-so-naughty librarian and instructor at Florida Memorial University in Miami, Florida.
Visitor Comments (0)