Nothing is ours forever

Yesterday I was introduced to a little book titled, Simple Living, written by Sister Jose` Hobday. She was a Franciscan nun whose mother was Seneca Iroquois and father was part Semole and a Baptist Minister. She died in 2009 at the age of 80. According to her biography she was holistic long before it was in vogue, encouraging others to have a zest for living and to experience the spiritual life with all our senses.

In a passage from her book she talked about taking an inventory of our possessions and giving things to others that we no longer need. She suggested keeping the things that fall into these four groups: needs, helps, preferences and luxuries. It caused me to think about all the things people acquire during a lifetime. Even those of modest means usually have much more than they actually need.

It also caused me to think that nothing is forever. Not one material thing or person belongs to us. They are only loaned to us for as long as we need them and then it is time to pass them on to the next person. Even our children do not belong to us forever.

Tomorrow I plan to attend a memorial service for a friend. A little over a year ago this man moved from his daughter's house to one of his own, even though he was in very poor health. The reason he did not consider an assisted living arrangement was because he had too many possessions that he could not part with. Now someone else is responsible for what he didn't need in the first place.

When my mother died it took us ten days to go through her apartment. Most of what she had accumulated over 76 years ended up being donated to charity, which did help others eventually. Since then I have made it a point to routinely go through what I have and find an appropriate home for what I no longer need.

I have decided it makes good sense to travel light, appreciate what I have and share what I no longer need because nothing is mine forever.