Rare books, icons, and all sorts of trinkets lined the shelves of Professor Rhodes’s basement office, a haven for students looking for deep conversations beyond what the campus coffee shop might offer. A story accompanied every picture on the professor’s walls, and with his welcoming demeanor toward visiting students, it was a marvel he accomplished anything in that storied room. Of course, with his encyclopedic knowledge and wealth of experience, the space within Professor Rhodes’s mind gleamed even more resplendent than his basement office. No words spoken in that room were ever wasted— every bit of knowledge a gem to be treasured. But among the many times I visited that office, one stands out.

A disgruntled former coworker of my dad’s had tried to place a curse on my family (long story), and while I don’t really take such things seriously, I still decided to seek out Professor Rhodes’s help in countering the curse just in case. For his counter-curse, Professor Rhodes had me clutch a small “evil eye” amulet and read an ancient cleansing prayer. We finished the ritual, and as I extended my hand to return the amulet, Professor Rhodes stared at me. An atypical silence filled the room as we stood there in tension. Eventually, Professor Rhodes wrapped his hands around my extended fist and pushed it gently back toward me. He smiled and said in his customary warm singsong, “I have reached an age where I’ve stopped collecting things and started giving them away.” The amulet went into my pocket, and it still resides in an old cigar box on a shelf by Jessi’s and my bed.

As I progressed through college and div school and even my first full-time church role, I realized I was acquiring a lot of stuff: books, movies, furniture, the works. Thinking back on Professor Rhodes’s comment about giving things away instead of accumulating them, it hit me: why even accumulate so many things in the first place? Over the past few years, I’ve made a point of downsizing. When I want a new shirt, I’ll donate two or three I don’t wear as regularly. If I want a new book, I have to take a bag of older books to Chamblin’s. With this system, I’m able to reduce the clutter in Jessi’s and my house, but what about the clutter in my mind?

Professor Rhodes’s mind harbored a treasury of wisdom, and while I may not be to that stage, there’s a lot of knowledge I see no virtue in hoarding. When I learn things through reading or classwork, I want to share them, and I love conversations with others who share this impulse.

If we approach the world with a hoarding mentality, at the end of it all, we just have a bunch of stuff, but if we regularly give away possessions and knowledge and compassion, the worlds around us and within us all become a little richer.

Let’s all try to reach the age where we stop collecting things
and start giving them away.