Spring is a time when the hours of daylight become longer, the weather begins to grow warmer, and we tend to have a bit more energy. Having more daylight can help us feel more hopeful and energized as we look to the future. At the start of spring, people often engage in the tradition of “spring cleaning,” the deep cleaning and organizing of our living spaces.
For people living in the 1800s, spring cleaning was practical. In those days, light and heat came from burning coal or wood, which left soot everywhere especially during the peak usage of winter months. Spring cleaning meant scrubbing houses and living spaces that had become covered in soot.
Spring cleaning is more than just practical. In many religions and cultures, cleaning is traditionally aligned with spring holidays. In Jewish tradition, spring cleaning often takes place in conjunction with Passover. For Greek Orthodox Christians, spring cleaning occurs during the week leading up to Lent. There is even an Iranian festival called Nowruz (“new day” in Persian), which marks the start of spring with cleaning one’s home.
Yet spring cleaning goes beyond tidying our things. Spring can also be a time to declutter and reevaluate our lives. The church season of Lent (the 40 days before Easter, beginning with Ash Wednesday) offers us space for deepening our spiritual practices, as well as time for introspection and evaluating ourselves. Along with spending time in prayer and devotion, we might observe how we have accumulated material possessions, time obligations and habits that are not serving us well. Paying attention to our accumulation of more helps us to declutter, so we can focus on what matters most.
Lent is an ideal time to declutter our lives. This means taking an honest look at every aspect of our lives. How are we using our time, energy and resources? What changes could we make? Decluttering can be a spiritual practice. After all, spiritual practices are any type of activity that facilitate our connection with God.
If the idea of decluttering as a spiritual practice sounds strange to you, you are not alone. When we were growing up, we may have absorbed specific ideas of the “correct” way to pray or connect with God, which informed our views as adults about prayer and spiritual practices. Sometimes, our ideas about the “right way” to pray or practice spirituality were passed on to us by family members, faith communities and society. However, this can limit us when we aren’t wired to connect with God in those specific ways. It can be freeing to explore spiritual practices that break from the mold we learned. We can end up connecting with God in an unexpected way.
For example, one of my current spiritual practices is “grounding” or standing barefoot on the grass for 10 to 20 minutes every morning. The time spent outdoors has helped me to become aware of God’s presence through God’s creation. When the weather isn’t cooperating, I can stay indoors, hold something from nature and focus on connecting with God through God’s creation in this way.
I am not an outdoorsy person. I never would have considered grounding if someone hadn’t suggested it to me. It definitely doesn’t meet the criteria I grew up with as a “correct” way to pray or be with God. But it has been one of the most lifegiving spiritual practices I have done.
This Lent, consider trying a new spiritual practice: spiritual decluttering. God may be inviting us to declutter our habits, media usage, material possessions and time obligations. Doing so can help us focus on God and the parts of life that are most important.
Becca Ehrlich is an ELCA pastor, spiritual director and writer. She serves as Executive Director/Founder of New Breath Spirituality Center, teaches Christian Spirituality at United Lutheran Seminary, and writes about Christian Minimalism.
This article appears in the March/April/May 2026 issue of Gather. To read more like it, subscribe to Gather.