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In 2014, Japanese author Marie Kondo published a book called, The Life Saving Magic of Tidying Up. Here’s what it promised:

Despite constant efforts to declutter your home, do papers still accumulate like snowdrifts and clothes pile up like a tangled mess of noodles? Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes tidying to a whole new level, promising that if you properly simplify and organise your home once, you’ll never have to do it again. Most methods advocate a room-by-room or little-by-little approach, which doom you to pick away at your piles of stuff forever. The KonMari Method, with its revolutionary category-by-category system, leads to lasting results. In fact, none of Kondo’s clients have lapsed (and she still has a three-month waiting list).

I tried the KonMari method when I combined households with my partner. It really is magic. But I can’t claim to be one of the clients who hasn’t lapsed since!

When Mari Kondo made her book into a Netflix series, one of the things that always stuck out to me was anytime she entered a messy, cluttered home she first took the time to sit and say a quiet prayer amongst the owner’s possessions. She would also have her clients thank each item before setting it aside to be thrown away, put away, or recycled. And, we all know this one, with each item, there was one fundamental question that had to be asked: does this spark joy?

The Mari Kondo method is based on the premise, a spiritual premise, I would say, that conscious or not, we form a bond with our possessions. They matter to us. When you think of some of your most prized possessions, I wonder what comes to mind? Everything from the big, tangible items like your first car, or your favourite dress, to those more intangible things like a degree or photos of a favourite trip?

When I was reading through the ministry reports this week in preparation for our annual Vestry meeting next Sunday, there were several St Clement’s prized possessions that came up. As ministry leaders spoke about the work that God had done through our parish this past year, there were big ticket items like the stairlift, the shiny yellow chairs in the revitalised hospitality room—the new baptismal font. There were more intangible things like memories of the tropical dinner and finding our voices again when we could finally sing together in person.

Philip, our People’s Warden, mentioned one St Clement’s artefact in particular that you might have noticed hanging around our church. 

“In the last year, we faced unexpected staffing changes, overcame a tragedy in our Lynn Valley community, lived with the continual threat of Covid-19 variants, and experienced varying Provincial health orders, vaccine mandates and worship restrictions” Philip writes in his report. 

“Despite all these hurdles, our small but active church stood firm like the anchor in front and overcame the many challenges presented before us. None of these challenges could have been overcome without our faith in God, and the steadfast dedication of our many volunteers and parishioners.”

The St Clement’s anchor is an example, I think, of what botanist and Potawatomi First Nation author Robin Wall Kimmerer calls an “emblem of relationship”. It’s an artefact, a belonging, a possession in our community that symbolises relationships—the relationship between St Clement’s and Lynn Valley; St Clement’s and the wider world; St Clement’s and God. 

Consider also some of the emblems of relationship in our scripture readings this morning. In our second reading, Adam symbolises the relationship of humanity to the earth (Adam called, “the man of dust”). We meet Joseph in our first reading, and recall the coat of many colours from just a few chapters before, which he receives from his father. The coat is an emblem of Joseph’s preferred relationship with his father, an emblem of jealousy amongst his younger brothers. 

Jesus, implied in our second reading as the second Adam, symbolises the relationship between humanity and the Divine (the second Adam is “the man of heaven”). And in our gospel reading we see even more clearly the way that Jesus is an emblem of the relationship between God and people: Jesus teaching his friends and neighbours how they ought to be in relationship with each other as they seek to live in community. 

“Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,” Jesus says, “bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you.”

So what challenge might God have for us in our Bible readings have for us this morning? This week I encourage you to spend some time in prayer with your possessions. Choose a few items to hold in your hands or a few things to bring to mind as you spend a few quiet moments considering what relationships these items represent to you. Which items are those emblems of difficult relationships where there has been family or personal strain? Which items are those emblems of thriving relationships where there has been joy and happiness?

May God remind you in your prayers that all of the messy bits in our lives are welcomed in God’s house; that we don’t have to be tidy in order to present our needs and our worship before God; that God sits with us even in the most unkempt places and reminds us, through Christ, what it means to be whole. Amen.