Discussing
The Limited Joy of Tidying Up

Marie Kondo’s call for tidiness echoes certain biblical principles. But can true contentment be found in a clean house?

I just dissussed these issues on Friday with a fellow pastor in a blog post and on Facebook Live. https://www.breadforbeggars.com/2019/02/konmari-detaching-from-stuff-and-traveling-light-in-this-world/

I immediately fell in love with the show but have not looked at it from this perspective. You are certainly right that she doesn't have all the answers but I think that we can also get caught up in earthly possession. By decluttering, we can realize those materialistic items can't help us experience true joy. Only Jesus can.

God is a God of order and there is some good principles here, but I not only found a problem with the limited source of Marie’s joy, but Who (or what) she is thanking. I love the idea of thanking God for the home He has given, the way he has provided and asking for His wisdom & guidance in all our decisions. To kneel down and thank the house itself for providing for us is thanking “the wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell”. Debut. 4:28

interesting input on the subject. I did feel like something was not complete with the concept Marie Kondo introduced. A step towards contentment but not wholly there.

Marie Kondo's method has nothing to do with organizing or cleaning. That's just the base. Her real method is to have you touch each item you own one by one and make a decision on if and where it belongs in your life. This makes you confront your beliefs, your past choices and things like, do I worry about the future even though God told me not to? And do I really "fear not?" Walk through her book, actually do all of what she says before you judge it. Without doing that you risk coming across as lacking authority on your subject. At the moment you are missing the main point of her work, that she does respectfully and quietly, and your words reveal it.