Written by Jane Scupham, principal
Last week we had a team of visitors from the diocese come to view our school. And just like at home when visitors come to call, you tend to want to clean up the place. 
Thus there was a frenzy of cleaning that occurred in the days preceding the visitors’ arrival. Mrs. Czekaj and Mrs. Franz cleaned and straightened everything in the outer office and the work room. Mrs. Kepa worked on the food catering for the visitors, and I was left with the task of cleaning my office. I stood for a long time contemplating my office space. Papers seemed to be breeding on my desk and counter and were overflowing to the windowsill and bookcase. It was very tempting to turn my back on it all, close the door and walk away, but that was definitely not an option. So the Great Office Clean-Up of 2010 began.
After school I stayed and worked on my office for 3 hours. How does one accumulate so much paper? As I sorted, filed, and pitched I kept thinking about how we were told that the computer would do away with the need for so much paper—not true! I kept at it and, lo and behold, by the end the office was sparkling and wooden surfaces could be seen. I thought to myself, “Why do I feel the need to keep all of this? Will I ever use it?” I worried,” What if I need it, but I recycled it?”
Possessions are like that—they end up possessing you. “I needed this. I will need this. I’m sure I will need to use this sometime in the future.” There’s that desire to control everything and keep all those possessions, but what a liberating experience to cleanse your home, your office, yourself of all that unnecessary stuff. I realized I don’t need to possess everything. I don’t need to want everything. Yes, and I can even recycle months-worth of paper and it will be okay. So let go of some of those possessions—you’ll find you do have enough.
“Day by day we are given not what we want, but what we need. Sometimes it is a feast and sometimes… swept crumbs, but by faith we believe it is enough.” —Barbara Brown Taylor 