Vanity of vanities

The Gospel of Luke proscribes the accumulation of wealth and possessions exemplified by the rich man who decides to tear down his silo and build a newer, bigger one in order to hold on to them. After 71 years I too wonder what I will do with all my possessions. But I can't touch my most prized possessions because most of them are attitudes, opinions and prejudices I've accumulated in that time. It is indeed difficult to give up such things without a sense of disorientation.

Where will I keep my anger, for example, if I have to give it up? See? I only thought about moving it to a safer place. Why not just give it up altogether? But how does one do that?

There are still people I hate and despise, people I think less of than myself. But perhaps that is a ruse. Perhaps it is myself I hate and despise. That would take some serious work rooting that weed out of my garden. Perhaps I am too lazy to even consider it. Do I come by it naturally? Did it get nurtured by repeated bad examples of others in my life?

There is a scene in the film "42," the biopic about Jackie Robinson, in which a young boy is taken by his father to his first professional baseball game. When Jackie Robinson appears at bat, scores of fans begin name calling (yes, the "n" word) and cursing Robinson to get off the plate. The boy looks around at his father and other fans and he too joins in the chorus using the "n" word. The boy simply mimicked what he saw his elders doing. What was his father's possession has become his own.

Jesus calls the rich man a fool for thinking he could hold on to his possessions. He would be called to his death that very night. I am in the process of ridding myself of material possessions. But what about the internal ones? Will I have to wait until I am called to death to rid myself of them?