Boxes

I've been thinking about boxes.
Coworkers have been saving empty boxes
I bring them home to pack things up for moving.

Some are filled with things which leave my house
for other destinations
where other people will open them
and sort through the contents
maybe putting items up for sale

Other boxes are filled by my children
with things they want to store for future homes
of their own
Or things they want to take with them
to their apartments

Still other boxes are filled and carefully taped
and labelled--dishes, pictures, books--
and stacked on an ever-growing pile
to take with me to my new home
where I will open them
claiming my space with their contents

Meanwhile my house has emptied
and something inside me opens up
in this now uncluttered space
There is room to stretch and breathe
There is inspiration
and capacity for ideas and thoughts

I thought of Mary this morning
and all the moves she made--
Bethlehem, Egypt, Nazareth.
No boxes
No moving van
No yard sale
(True she had a donkey, not a car.)
But she carried her treasure in her arms
and in her heart.

If I should move again, God forbid,
I shall have fewer boxes.

7/30/15