I’ve been writing about a box of papers this week, tossing out things that were once important but are no longer. Encumbrances. That process will continue from now on, because I continue to accumulate stuff (clothes, books, tools, etc.) and then have to make room for it by getting rid of other stuff.

The junk I really need to get rid of, however, is not in boxes. It is psychological junk. Religious junk. Relational junk.

emotional baggageMany of these bits and pieces of myself I have been carrying around for my entire conscious life. I came by them honestly, I took them on for good reasons, they have helped me many times. But they have also constricted me, held me back, weighed me down, and I’ve held on to many of them far too long.

The image I have is of Oprah on television pulling a wagon onstage that contained 60 pounds of meat. She announced that this was how much weight she had lost. It was pretty stunning. Well, I drag my wagon behind me all the time. It holds a lot of emotional junk. We all do. I think Lent is about stopping long enough to look in the wagon and identify what we’re pulling around. Only then do we have the opportunity of tossing some of it out.

Until we see what’s there, we can’t do anything with it. Even when we see it, it’s often not as simple as putting it aside. I’ve been pulling it around for a long time and for good reasons. My reasons for tossing it must be as compelling as my reasons for keeping it.

The question I am going to ask myself (and you) for the next few days is a variation of the Capital One commercial, “What’s in your wagon?”