WHAT TO KEEP & WHAT TO THROW AWAY: How to Make the Decision*

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven . . . a time to keep, and a time to cast away (Ecclesiastes 3:1,6b).

One of the items Helen had sorted to be thrown away was a 1907 charcoal sketch of Abraham Lincoln with these words by Lincoln printed beneath: I do the very best I know how--the very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so until the end.  If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me won't amount to anything.  If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference.  The picture was in poor condition, but I thought with appropriate cropping and matting it could be a great antique wall hanging again.  Should it be kept or thrown away?

I use the following criteria to make the decision to keep or throw away:
1.  Is it pertinent to current legal, medical, employment or business matters?
2.  Is it something that has a possible immediate use?  (If it hasn't been used in a year it probably will not be used in the next year.)
3.  Does it give import insight into the development and disposition of the children?  Important pictures, papers and records need to be kept.  All love letters should be kept so that children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren can understand their family. (Helen, remember the one where you said, "You are . . .?)
In this digital age much family history will be lost because letters and journals are seldom written on paper.
4.  Does it have material value so that it can be sold or given away with a clear conscience?  If "we could sell it on ebay," but never get around to it--throw it away!
5. Is it an important part of my spiritual journey--will it support my Christian faith? (I have three Bibles that are examples of this.)
6.  Is it a collection that can be displayed or used for an intended purpose and not just be a dust collector?
7.  Do I have the time and energy to make something of it within a definite period of time?

What did we decide about the Lincoln charcoal?  It was burned in the "Sacred Fire," a fire ring in the back yard dedicated to the burning of memorabilia, worn-out flags, Bibles and Christian materials that are no longer serviceable.  They are not common trash and deserve a dignified end.

Grace&Peace;
Tom

*A revision of an earlier post.