The Creeping Chaos:

First, it was the books. Sprawled across my floor, pages opened, patiently waiting for me to read them. Then, I noticed the cables snaked across the floor, waiting to trip me up. Then there are the good-intentioned projects, sitting half-finished in various corners.

When did this happen? Didn’t I clean this place a few weeks ago? Or was it a month ago? Or yesterday? Time blurs when chaos comes knocking.

I didn’t remember pulling all those books off the shelf. Where did all the stuff on my desk come from? Did someone sneak in during the dark of night and drop off all this junk? But it looks like my junk. Why would someone go through the house and drag all my stuff into this one room and leave it everywhere?

Even worse, I think they’ve done it to my car too.

The Mystery of Mess

Who knows how these things happen? I don’t think any of us want clutter, but it happens.

Clutter starts innocently enough. One book left on the desk because I might reference it tomorrow. Meeting notes scattered across my desk because they feel too important to file.

Like water dripping on stone, these small choices create valleys of clutter in our spaces, and they are so gradual and subtle that we barely notice things piling up.

We feel it, don’t we? The heaviness when we enter the room, the slight panic when we can’t find what we need, the way we feel as clutter closes in on us.

The Recognition of Responsibility:

As I look around my office, I begin to remember. Yes, I guess I was the one who left those books there. Yes, I was running short on time, so I left those boxes in the middle of the floor instead of putting them away. I begin to remember other things as well.

A realization enters: Did I do all of this? Did I create this mess and clutter? Maybe I did. Not all at once, but over time, little by little, and not on purpose. It just happens. Clutter accumulates, sometimes so slowly and subtly, I don’t even notice.

I do notice tripping over things, not having room to move around, and feeling closed in. While I might not have noticed when the clutter happened, I noticed that it did. When I look around, I see it everywhere.

The Seeing of Similarity

Another thought comes, “My office isn’t the only place I’ve allowed to become cluttered.” When I look within my soul and reflect, I notice the same thing: Clutter.

A cluttered room lacks space and can lead to accidents. Similarly, a cluttered soul closes us in. When our soul gets cluttered, we feel distracted, compressed, and dissonant.

Like cluttered rooms, cluttered souls happen slowly. Regrets we hang onto end up in the corner. Grudges, disappointments, and outdated thought patterns end up sprawled across our floor. Broken promises, self-doubt, fears, and anxieties that no longer serve us pile up on the desk. And the list goes on.

Over time, the clutter accumulates until we can no longer move. Our spiritual life gets choked out.

The Clearing of Clutter

We know how to clear a room of clutter. We begin asking a question of each item:

• When was the last time this served me?
• Does this still align with who I am becoming?
• Am I keeping this out of purpose or out of fear?

How can we clear the clutter of our souls? With a similar process.

First, we invite God into our mess and ask for help seeing what we might not see. God notices what’s weighing on us—what thoughts and patterns no longer help but hinder us.

And, like the cluttered room, the clearing begins. Getting rid of the clutter by letting go. We can even ask the same questions as we clear soul clutter. When did this habit, thought, action, etc., last serve me? Does it still align with who I am becoming? Do I keep it because of purpose or fear?

The Rest of Result

After I fill up boxes, put books back on shelves, throw away things I don’t need, and organize all the cables, I take a deep breath. A clean space feels good. It feels freeing. The light even seems to shine brighter. Clean surfaces can now reflect the light flowing through the window, and everything is open to new possibilities. Inside, I feel a similar openness and spaciousness. It’s easy to forget what it feels like to let go of what hinders us and holds us back.

Where do you need to begin? Each step – whether clearing a drawer or uncovering a buried worry – is an invitation to move with God’s rhythm, shedding the burdens that keep us from the joy of the present moment.

We can only begin small. One book. One drawer. One silent worry in our heart. As you declutter your soul, pay attention to how you feel as you let go of broken habits, unhelpful thoughts, regrets that close you in, and worries that block the light. Notice how the light floods in and how the path ahead becomes clearer. Notice your clarity and sense of God’s presence. Trust God that with each item released, each burden laid down, you have more room for the divine to fill you with newness of life, joy, purpose, and peace.

The psalmist writes, “You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy” (Psalm 30:11). May you, too, experience similar joy.

This is part of “The Formative Path” a 2024 Fall Sermon Series at St. Paul United Methodist Church in Bloomington, Indiana. For more information and the Weekly Reflection Sheets, go to https://ponderingpassages.com/category/path/