Earlier this month, my wallet was stolen while I was visiting Venice, Italy, for the very first time. After dropping our suitcases off at the hotel, we had walked for a few minutes when I took a city map out of my purse. In my excitement, I left my purse unzipped and soon after my wallet was gone. I felt an immediate sense of violation, disbelief, disorientation, and disappointment at my carelessness.

Yet losing a wallet is chump change in light of significant losses, like those from the recent fires in northern California. But it does illuminate how a wallet or money, a car, a house, clothing, papers, books, and other mementos anchor our sense of self and well-being. “Things” are important for we create our world and home with them, they give us shelter and allow us to do so much.

Last week, I met a woman who lost all her possessions in the fire. She reminded me that stripping away the trappings of life can put us in touch with the deeper meaning of life. She wrote this to me: “I pray that your day ahead is full of deep recognition and appreciation of the simple things: the warmth of a hug given and received, nourishment and gratitude for every bite of food, praise for each drink of clean water, the power of your feet rooted into the earth and your spine oriented to the light of the sun. It’s when there’s so little left that we can feel the true power of the little that remains.”

Let us remember that while “things” anchor us they also numb, encumber, and distract us. It’s easy to lose sight of the cost to us, individually and collectively, of living in a world where shopping and acquiring is the focus of so much of our attention. Let us remember what is truly important as we encounter more and more insecurity and loss in the world. And if you lost it all, what would still remain of importance and value in your life?

Published 10/25/17