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On another level, clearing up is a way of re-exerting control over a physical space that has gone awry during the festive season when joyful slackness (and children!) prevail. But to think that we are capable of re-establishing control over our internal messiness in the same way as we do over our physical lives, might imply that we think we have control, when surely this is in God's hands. That doesn't mean nothing can be done. Taking stock to see what is essential and what is no longer of value to us in our spiritual lives, can help us to prioritise what is fulfilling, and also allows us to make way for new things in our life.
What spiritual clutter are we holding onto which prevents us from moving forward in our growth with God? Perhaps we have goals and visions which are unattainable, and perhaps those ambitions divert us from the purpose God has for us, or perhaps God wants us to achieve them in a different way. Perhaps we carry a self-image which is unhelpful: what actually matters is how God sees and knows us, and being prepared to live in God's image of us, not our own. Perhaps we have habits of thinking and behaviour which we need to break out of, because they act as a barrier to our life with God. This is a big area and there isn't room to cover it here, but a really good, short and interesting g book about it is Finding Happiness - Monastic Steps for a Fulfilling Life by Abbot Christopher Jamison, who is the Abbott of worth and led the BBC TV series, The Monastery.
As well as looking out for spiritual clutter, we need to look at the spiritual direction we are travelling. Evaluate the light and shade over the past year: How did we cope with the highs and lows? What activities were we involved in? How did we grow through them? What activities seemed a dead end? What brought joy and excitement? What is the path which leads us on from these? One of my favourite recommendations, by the contemplative monk, John Main, is that we should shed our 'inner Pharisee', our over-zealous religious self, which often just makes us feel either guilty or pious. Our spiritual direction of travel needs to be driven by a sense not of what we 'ought', 'must' or are 'expected' to do, but by our compulsion to respond to God out of pure love and joy.
The longer our twinkly, tinselly Christmas Tree stays, the more it reminds me to keep reflecting on all this and stop being impatient to move on. Christ comes to shed light into the dark corners of our spiritual lives so we can see more clearly where we are going. Let us enjoy the light of Christmas as long as we can and allow it to guide us into this New Year, just like a certain guided Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar two millennia ago.
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