New year is not only a time for making soon to be broken resolutions (proverbially the road to hell is paved with good intentions) but also an excellent time for clearing the clutter - as we take advantage of the new beginning and the fresh start which another new year - A.D. 2010 (can you believe it?) offers us.

I like to pretend that I am a tidy person but a quick glance at my study or garage or vestry will soon dispel the myth.  Thinking about clutter I am becoming more and more aware of how, over the years, it is not just my living and working space that has become over burdened with clutter but how my life itself has become overloaded with it.

One of my greatest present joys is when my darling granddaughter Freya comes to visit with her parents.  It's wonderful when the car pulls up in the drive and there she is.  But then the unloading of the impedimenta begins.  It's amazing how much clutter is needed for just one tiny person!  We begin at an early age to accumulate stuff and during the advancing years we seem to gather more and more stuff until our lives become completely overburdened with all that we possess.  No wonder Jesus told the young man to go and sell all that he had in order to follow him.  Yet, we are told that the said young man went away with a heavy heart for his riches and possessions were very great!

The battle with clutter brings home the fact that the whole pattern of our lives should involve a readiness to "down size" and to let go of that which is not essential.  For one day we shall have to let go of simply everything!

Again, the gospels remind us of the folly of building bigger barns and clinging on to material benefits that in the end are of no matter.  In our earlier years we are encouraged to live life to the full (to "eat, drink and be merry") but gradually, as time goes by and we become more and more aware of the brevity of this transient life then we realise the importance and ultimate value of emptying ourselves and becoming content with the one thing that really matters - namely, a living relationship with Jesus - the only one who can truly save us from all the clutter that life throws at us.

Then, if we look at the Church we see how over the centuries it too has become encrusted with accretions which cling to the barque like barnacles.  I wonder what the Twelve Apostles would think if they had to sit through a meeting of the General Synod or a typical P.C.C.?Ý  How cluttered life has become in the modern 21st century Church - how far away we have drifted from the pure, simple and pristine life of the Early Church.  Now, I'm the last person to devalue the importance of tradition - for, it's when we abandon tried and tested ancient traditions that trouble arises - as we have seen time and time again in recent decades.  But we need to constantly challenge ourselves as to what really matters and what are the simple basic Gospel essentials.

The lovely prayer of St. Richard of Chichester reminds us of what is really and truly important in life and it is simply:-

"May we know thee more clearly, love thee more dearly and follow thee more nearly day by day."

What could be simpler or less cluttered than that?  If we all followed the basic ideals outlined in that prayer then our lives and the lives of others would be greatly enhanced.  So as 2010 dawns I shall resolve to tackle the clutter that so encumbers me, for there's no better time to start than New Year's Day.

With New Year Blessings,

FATHER DAVID