Our city provided its annual hazardous waste and recycling event. We had a couple of things to offload and joined the queue in the parking lot of the city maintenance offices. The pickup in front of us had a camper shell over the bed. Within were all kinds of paint cans and similar scrap and refuse. It’s a pretty good bet that guy’s wife had been looking forward to that day for a while. 

We did not get to dump our stuff. We have some scrap metal and a tire we need to part with. We were told where else we could go with these items. They are, however, still in our possession. 

I purge stacks of paper every year or so. The stacks are smaller these days since we use much less paper and more electronic documents. It still feels good to Dumpit to Crumpit. 

We renovated our office building some years ago. We dumped and recycled to our limits several times over. One member of our staff took things away without telling us where. I’m not sure I want to know if his activity was legal or not. 

When the Hebrews left Egypt, the Egyptians were so favorably disposed toward them that they loaded them down with loot. (See Exodus 12:35, 36.) It doesn’t take long for a load of loot to become an unwanted burden when you have to tote it with you everywhere you go. 

When God told Moses to ask for an offering, this group of people who would spend the rest of their lives wandering in the wilderness were extraordinarily generous in giving what they had. More than enough was given. 

It’s much easier to bear heat, elevation changes, and rugged turf if you don’t have a pack on your back and your arms filled with pretty stuff of no practical value in the wilderness. 

What could you give away today that would enrich or delight someone else while at the same time lightening your load?

Who could benefit from what you no longer use?

I found a sword in a box yesterday. It’s not mine. Someone left it behind while moving on to what’s next. Of course, I recently gave away my sword, Sting, from The Lord Of the Rings, to my four-year-old granddaughter. And let me say, this is not as careless as it sounds. Her father is a Marine whose dress uniform has a saber. He has one of the other swords from the The Lord Of the Rings. They take these out and place them where they can reach them as necessary while watching Bilbo, Frodo, Gandalf, and Strider fight off orcs and other minions of Sauron.

Note: Please provide the discipline and protection of a well-seasoned Marine when children are around swords, knives, guns, and such. Help them understand these are tools, not toys. Help them understand as well that, unlike video games, we only get one life.

Back to our main point: We walk around many treasures others would treasure even more than we do. Photographs and memories suit us as well as the items themselves. Today is a good day to bless someone with stuff you will never again use. My bride will get to this point in this essay and begin making plans for my books. We can give away what others will consider junk one day, but we cannot give away our friends without assurance they are making new friends. 

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I will lighten my load and brighten another’s life with treasure whose true value resides in my heart and mind. 

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Our Father, who could use what I hoard? Whose life could I enrich with what I do not need? What would bless others now that someone will one day consider junk when they clean out and throw away what I leave behind? Amen.