The Two-Suitcase Life
“Strive to enter through the narrow gate. Many will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough.” Luke 13:24
I was catching up with old business school classmates in Palo Alto last week. Among the career updates, one friend shared something that stopped me cold. He and his wife were giving up everything they owned. House, cars, furniture, everything. They were reducing their lives to two suitcases each and setting off to travel the world.
“How do you even begin to get rid of all that stuff?” I asked.
“It’s easier than you’d think,” he said. “Every time we find something we forgot we had, we realize we won’t miss what we didn’t know we were keeping.”
That line has stayed with me. Because whether it’s possessions or expectations, most of us are carrying too much. My students pile up activities and achievements to prove their worth. Adults do the same with houses, cars, and careers. We believe life is transactional: earn enough, achieve enough, and you’ll be secure.
But Jesus says the way is narrow. You can’t carry much through a narrow gate. You have to let go.
And this isn’t just about possessions. It’s about the way we measure our lives. We keep score, building résumés for some cosmic HR department as proof that we deserve love, respect, and happiness. But this is exhausting. Every success raises the stakes for the next one.
But what if the game is rigged in our favor? What if you’re already worthy simply because you exist? What if love is not earned but simply received?
This changes everything. Instead of acting out of performance anxiety, we respond to life from abundance. Think about relationships: do you do things to earn love, or because you’re so loved that you can’t help but give? The difference is freedom.
Letting go is a lifelong practice. Until our last breath, there is always something more to release. But each time we drop the weight, we discover we can move. We can respond to unexpected opportunities. We can trust that even when plans fall apart, God is still present.
The gate isn’t narrow to punish us for everything we’ve carried. It is narrow to free us from it.
- Fr. John Gribowich
