“The Great Move” is under way. Laura and I are buying a home, selling my condo, sorting through two households and 20+ years of stuff, and moving. In short, it feels overwhelming. I’ve been telling people, “Why just be busy when you can be ridiculous?”

             So the decisions are coming. The baby grand piano at Laura’s goes. The twin beds in my basement? Nope. What about the mid-century modern sofa at my place? Maybe, or to storage. All the stuff in my office goes. The important family heirlooms at Laura’s go. The dining room table and chairs at my place? Storage, or sell. My mid-century dresser and chest? Maybe, or storage. Financial records? Over the last 7 years, yes. Anything older goes to the shredder. What about the art on the walls of our homes? Some yes, and some no. And I haven’t even gotten to my garage or our kitchens yet. We already have one storage unit for most of my mom’s stuff. I can see another storage unit in our future. Moving.

So what about when we move from this life to the mystery of what’s next? That’s really “the Great Move.” We know the old saying, “You can’t take it with you.” And that’s true enough. There are no storage units in heaven.

But for some time now I’ve been pondering what is carried forward through death to eternal life in the glory of God. Everything, anything, nothing? Certainly not stuff. My GR 86 sports car will be left behind, as will my collection of late 60s and 70s baseball cards. So in this “move” does anything go? Maybe something.

Presbyterians believe that we can’t earn salvation. The gift of God’s salvation through Jesus Christ is only by grace. And we share in that by faith. So the good works we may do or not do have nothing to do with that. Rather, Presbyterian theology states that we do good as an expression of gratitude for God’s grace. Doing good is a way to say “thanks.” I like that.

I also think doing good has to do with maturing in life and faith. When my children were young, I loved them as their dad. They didn’t earn it. But as they became young adults and then adults I did hope they would share that love and express love back. And they have. Likewise, I believe it works that way with Christian faith. In grace God loves us because God is love. But God also has the hope that in time we will mature as people and Christians so that we share in that love by loving God and neighbors.

But beyond that I wonder as we “move on” if the good we do isn’t somehow carried forward in the shaping of a character and soul. Maybe acts of kindness, goodness,

patience, and love overtime make a difference in who we are, and that gets carried forward. And maybe those acts also impact others in ways that are carried forward in their hearts. It’s a type of “ripple effect” that makes a difference now and into the distant future.

             Moving; so what goes? Stuff? Nope. The character of a soul? I believe so. Discussions on the mystery of resurrection and eternal life by theologians seem to indicate it is personal and particular; we will be who we are now in some way. So that seems to mean to me that the soul makes the move. Maybe that’s why Paul writes at the conclusion of his discussion of resurrection and eternal life in I Corinthians 15: “Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” (I Cor. 15:58)

Moving, Glenn