Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, “You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." // Mark 10:21
My life is full of stuff. It clutters the rooms just as it clutters my mind. Some I want, some I don’t want. It's not hard to be motivated to fill a Goodwill bag every once in a while. But there are a lot of things I am not as eager to give away. Things like my time, my plans, my expectations, and my schedule. In today’s Gospel our Lord is asking us to look beyond our temporal goods (see Mark 10:17-30). If we have them, we certainly ought to be detached from them, but can we take it even deeper to discover the things we cling to the most?
I can think of a hundred moments where I clung to my riches. An eager child longing for time with me as I turn to take time for myself. Ignoring the alarm clock for a few more minutes of sleep instead of the morning Mass I had told myself I would attend. A friend stopping by to talk right as I finally got to the laundry. A seemingly inconvenient phone call. The list goes on and on.
I don’t have much to physically give away. The Goodwill bag, sure. But that’s easy. Much like the rich man, Jesus is asking me for more. Much more. And to let it go.
What I have is me. I have time to stop and to listen, eye contact to make, a listening ear and good advice, some laughter and a conversation with my husband, affection with my kids, and flexibility and ease with the people who enter into my life. These are my riches—but ultimately they are the Lord’s—gifted to me for His good purpose.
Lord, help me to give it all away. To walk in a spirit of total self-gift and detachment and to not count the cost, the time, the money, nor the inconveniences or the derailments. This is what I have. Help me, Jesus, to give it away.
Blythe Fike is the wife of Kirby and mother of eleven smallish kids in small town SoCal. She firmly believes sanctity is found in the everyday and is trying hard to live that truth, despite her countless fumbles. She enjoys sunshine in heavy doses, good music, and babysitters. She is a contributing author to our children’s devotional prayer book, Rise Up. Find out more about her here.
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