Our First World culture socializes us to cling to our possessions. Through fear, insecurity, and faithlessness, we accumulate a wide variety of paraphernalia. We carry on our shoulders a lifetime supply of material goods, as well as anger, jealousy, bitterness, and violence. These weights prevent us from coming before God as we really are — vulnerable, ordinary, human beings.
— John Dear, Jacob's Hip by Kerry Walters