Hoarder Buried Beneath Debris

 © 2014 The Wired Word

www.thewiredword.com

Police located the body of Beverly Mitchell, 66, under debris in the basement of her home in Cheshire, Connecticut, 25 miles southwest of Hartford, last Saturday, two days after responding to a postal worker's report of mail piling up outside.
Patrol Sergeant Kevin O'Donnell, one of the first officers on the scene, said Mitchell was buried alive when the floor of the one-story dwelling gave way under the weight of "a waist-high layer" of "mail, packages, bottles, lots of papers, newspapers, magazines ... piled to the ceiling in most rooms."
Finding the woman's body was initially delayed by the dangerous condition of the dilapidated building. Authorities say it appears Mitchell had been dead for about a week before they were notified. The cause of death seems to have been an accident; no evidence of criminal activity has been uncovered.
O'Donnell indicated that social service personnel had been aware of the woman's hoarding tendencies and tried to help, but she declined assistance.
While many people collect things or have trouble keeping their living quarters tidy, hoarders take the behavior to extremes, which can progress to a form of the mental illness known as obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). They have a "Citizen Kane"-like need to accumulate more and more useless junk, paired with an inability to throw anything away, even when their obsession jeopardizes their physical and mental health and safety and that of others.
Hoarding behavior may manifest itself in unsanitary and unsafe living conditions, social isolation, financial ruin and tense relations with authorities, neighbors, family and friends. Hoarders may not eat nutritiously, sleep well or bathe sufficiently because all the stuff they have accumulated prevents them from using areas of their living quarters for their intended purpose. Yet they believe they can't survive without the cocoon of stuff they have spun around themselves and cling to like Linus with his security blanket.
It has been suggested that hoarders may act out of deep-seated psychic pain caused by a traumatic experience such as physical or sexual abuse, rape, robbery or losses sustained during natural disasters. Persons who cling to tangible things may have problems trusting God and feeling safe and secure. They may feel shame or embarrassment over their inability to function normally or to change their behavior, and withdraw even further from human interaction as a result. They may even "create" a hoarding problem to avoid dealing with the real source of their anxiety, which may be too painful to face.
More research is needed to understand the causes of hoarding and discover effective treatments. To say that hoarding is just a manifestation of materialism, greed or selfishness without acknowledging the underlying fears and anxieties that may prompt the behavior would be to oversimplify the disorder. Treatment of symptoms without addressing the root causes of the hoarding compulsion has not generally resulted in long-term, lasting improvement. Hoarders desperately need to experience the grace of God to liberate them from the grip of material things that can never satisfy their deepest need for security, acceptance, love and righteousness.
More on this story can be found at these links:
Connecticut Hoarder Killed by Floor Collapse: Police. Reuters
Hoarding Signs and How to Get Help. How Stuff Works
Compulsive Hoarding. Wikipedia
Hoarding Disorder. Mayo Clinic
The Big Questions
1. What is the difference between a hoarder and a collector? What do the items mean to a collector, and what significance do they have to a hoarder? Do you agree with the statement "We all have a little hoarder in us"?
2. What beliefs, ideas, emotions or experiences might be at the root of hoarding behavior? What are some reasons people hang on to things that have no immediate, intrinsic or lasting value? What might be missing in a person's spiritual life that could lead to hoarding?
3. Have you ever known a hoarder? How was that person affected by the condition? How were others around the hoarder affected?
4. Have you ever been aware of tendencies within yourself to cling to things you really didn't need or that were potentially harmful to you or those around you? Where might such tendencies originate? What, if anything, have you done about them?
5. How comfortable are you letting others touch or borrow your "stuff"? Share about a time you regretted keeping something rather than throwing or giving it away. Share about a time you did not regret throwing something out or giving it away.
Confronting the News With Scripture and Hope
Here are some Bible verses to guide your discussion:
Matthew 12:43-45
[Jesus said,] "When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it wanders through waterless regions looking for a resting place, but it finds none. Then it says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' When it comes, it finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and live there; and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So will it be also with this evil generation." (No context needed.)
Jesus might have been talking about a hoarder when he gave this illustration. Those who attempt to help a hoarder by hauling piles of junk mail out of the house or by removing animals the individual can't care for adequately may be frustrated when they return to find the house filled with more junk or animals than ever, which the person acquired to try to fill the terrible void within, the "God-shaped vacuum" that only God can fill.
Questions: When attempting to gain the victory over sin, how can you be sure to get at its root causes, rather than tinkering with its symptoms alone? How can you be sure you aren't just "rearranging the chairs on the deck of the Titanic"? What needs to happen to ensure that "the last state" of a person doesn't become worse than the first?
Ecclesiastes 3:1, 5-6
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: ... a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together; ... a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away .... (For context, read 3:1-8.)
Question: How do you determine when it is time to gather, when it is time to keep and when it is time to throw or give things away?
Hebrews 12:1-2
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. (No context needed.)
This passage follows the great chapter recounting stories of historical men and women of faith, whose lives and witness are meant to motivate us to reach for the finish line where Christ Jesus waits to welcome us. In order that we might run the race of faith effectively, the writer urges us to lay aside (fling aside, get rid of, throw off, leave behind) every weight (encumbrance that hinders us or slows us down), especially sin that so easily entangles (clings so closely to, ensnares, distracts or surrounds) us. While an athlete may use weights in training to build muscle and endurance, those weights are left behind during competition. Weights are not in and of themselves evil; in the right context, they can even be helpful. But there is a time and a place for them. Sin, on the other hand, always hinders our progress and may even disqualify us in the end.
Note that we are not equating hoarding with sin but recognizing that anything we cling to, other than Christ, has the potential to get in the way of our experience of the abundant life that only Christ can give.
Questions: At what point does a weight become a hindrance or even lead us into sin? Give an example of something that was once helpful to you that in another context became a hindrance to you spiritually. Besides physical things, what else might we grasp too tightly at times, refusing to let go? What unhealthy attachments, feelings, resentments, regrets, rituals, good works, preferences, ways of living may be preventing you from clinging "simply to the cross"? How do we "fling aside" such weights?
Luke 12:15, 23, 31, 33
And [Jesus] said to them, "Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions. ... For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. ... Instead, strive for [your Father's] kingdom ... Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. (For context, read 12:13-34; cf. Romans 14:17.)
When a man came to Jesus asking for help in getting half of the inheritance left to his brother, Jesus told a parable about a man who had so much stuff that he had no place to put it all. He decided to stash it all away for a rainy day, sit back and enjoy the ride, but God told him that his life would be required of him that very night (that is, he would die); then what good would all his possessions do him? Jesus points to God's provision and loving care for creation, our inability to control our own destiny and our subsequent need to trust in God's faithful care.
Jesus offers freedom from our dependence upon material things, which are ultimately not life-saving at all. Indeed, giving things we treasure away may in the end save us: "For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it" (Matthew 16:25).
Questions: What material things do we "hoard" at the expense of storing up treasures in heaven? What non-material stuff or "baggage" might we cling to that has a deleterious effect on us spiritually? Instead of planning to build bigger barns, how might the rich man have answered his own question, "What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?" (v. 17). What else could he have done with the surplus?
For Further Discussion
1. In 1 Samuel 25:1-42, we learn about a wealthy, mean, surly man named Nabal, who had benefited from the protection David's armies provided his assets, but who refused to give them even a meal for their efforts. "Shall I take my bread and my water and the meat that I have butchered for my shearers, and give it to men who come from I do not know where?" Nabal sneered (v. 11; emphasis ours). David was ready to attack Nabal and all his household, but word came to Nabal's clever wife Abigail, who hurried to load donkeys up with 200 loaves, two skins of wine, five sheep prepared for a feast and additional supplies of grain, raisins and figs for David's men. Her quick action prevented a bloodbath. She told David, "When the LORD has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you, and has appointed you prince over Israel, my lord shall have no cause of grief, or pangs of conscience, for having shed blood without cause or for having saved himself. And when the LORD has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant" (vv. 30-31). Her selfless words reveal a concern for David's well-being, when she might well have focused on her own fear and anxiety. Ten days later, Nabal died of heart failure. Then David wooed Abigail, and she became his wife.
    How does the story of Nabal and Abigail relate to the problem of hoarding and the spiritual gift of generosity?
2. What other biblical examples of hoarders or of those who were liberated from the need to hoard can you think of? What can we learn from them?
3. Comment on this from Frederick Buechner, who writes in his book Wishful Thinking: A Theological ABC: "Avarice, greed, concupiscence and so forth are all based on the mathematical truism that the more you get, the more you have. The remark of Jesus that it is more blessed to give than to receive (cf. Acts 20:35) is based on the human truth that the more you give away in love, the more you are. It is not just for the sake of other people that Jesus tells us to give rather than get, but for our own sakes too." (Emphasis ours.)
4. What value might giving a tithe of what you possess have for you as a giver?
Responding to the News
What might you and your church do to help someone like "Utah Girl," who posted the following comment to the website of the reality television show Hoarding: Buried Alive? "My soon-to-be ex-husband has a bad case of OCD with compulsive shopping and hoarding tendencies. He has filled the garage and the office and other rooms with boxes and garbage. He has put us in a lot of debt and has managed to cash out his retirement money to keep shopping. He is in complete denial and lies to cover up his shopping. He doesn't see reality anymore. I love him and I would do anything to have him back and us be a family again but I think our little kids need a safe environment to live."
Closing Prayer

Creator God, help us to recognize that created things can never take your place. You alone are worthy of our worship. You are the Rock on which we can build our lives with confidence, the Refuge to which we may flee in times of distress. Empower us to face our greatest fears with the courage of the Spirit of Christ. Help us to keep our eyes on Jesus, casting aside every weight and sin that so easily trip us up, that we may finish the race laid out for us in victory. Amen.