Hoarding Our Treasure
Deacon Kurt Godfryd | Tuesday, May 31, 2011 at 5:30AM 
Let's face it. The acquisition, storage, and disposal of "things" can be challenging. To be candid, I confess to having a problem with books and magazines. Also particularly difficult to part with are articles and letters that are occasionally forwarded my way. I read them and keep them. In a sense, they become a part of me; for I can always rely upon them for a particular fact, insight, or sentiment. But despite their "importance," they mostly collect dust. Given this habit, and in a not so roundabout way, I have even been told that I am a hoarder.
As observations go, this is most likely correct; particularly since, in time, these items end up creating moguls and large hills throughout my office- but especially on my desk. Some time ago, my wife and I were discussing a potential product for our home. After informing me that she had researched and located some literature on it, she asked me where I wanted her to place it. When I told her to leave it on my desk and that I would look at it in a couple of days, she became irritated and remarked: "If it goes there, the next time it will be found will be the day after your funeral."
"Things." Should we keep them, pass them to another, or toss them altogether? In our material society, the excessive accumulation of "things" has risen to such epidemic proportions that medical professionals and academics have begun to pay increasing attention to this phenomenon. The word and lifestyle is known as "hoarding." While the Mayo Clinic has defined it, a prominent cable network has created a popular television show about it, entitled: Hoarding: Buried Alive. As the show's ratings soar, the world watches others live in very sad situations.
According to the IOCDF Hoarding Center, in addition to the creation of piles of "things" brought about by hoarding, piles of debt generally result, as well.
"About 75 percent of people with hoarding problems buy excessively, with over half qualifying for a diagnosis of compulsive buying," says Randy Frost, professor of psychology at Smith College and author of Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things. "Hoarders tend to have lots of credit cards and pile up huge credit card debt."
In a recent article written by Erica Sandberg, she notes that the disorder, estimated to impact nearly 1.2 million Americans, ends up not only burying the hoarder in debt, but also in severe depression; a depression that in the end, involves family, friends, and even neighbors. At it's extreme, this tragic condition has led some older hoarders to suicide, leaving their children not just with the emotional fallout, but also with massive financial liabilities and a house bursting with things.
Years ago, I remember meeting a Dominican sister (also my professor) for dinner when the conversation turned to advertising inserts in news publications. I noted that for many Americans, myself included, they had become part of our culture. Each week, as though programmed, we sit down, open each advertisement, and decide what to purchase next. After listening to my "confession," her response was that those were the first "things" that she pitches into the rubbish.
As medical professionals continue to research, explore, and treat hoarding issues, perhaps we Christians can begin to mount a new way forward, as well. One researcher has noted that professed followers of Christ take in 68 percent of the world's income, yet only 3 percent of that goes to the church and just a tiny percentage to world missions.
And while I am not advocating that we entirely throw off the advantages of our modern lifestyle, perhaps it is time to re-consider the meaning of "treasure" in our lives. Is our treasure measured by "things" or is it measured by the way we live our lives? In the end, Jesus provides us with the answer...
"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." (Mt 6:19-21)
