My daughters have been to camp several times this summer. I don’t know whether to be amazed or confused by my daughters, though. I took Brittney, our oldest daughter, to camp on Monday. Due to other commitments she was only going to stay for three days, but she took three bags of stuff. I guess she needed one bag of stuff for each day. Everything she might conceivably need was stashed in those three bags, and they were heavy. I’m thinking to myself, “Three days!”
But on some trips, unnecessary baggage can be a burden, not a blessing. Airlines these days are limiting the amount of luggage passengers can take on board. Just one more result of 9/11. Show up at the ticket counter with too many bags, and you will see what a burden excess baggage can be. A church member from the church I served in Kentucky had a brother who hiked the Appalachian Trail. His brother said the key to a successful trek through the Trail was to have no unnecessary baggage. Take only what you will need for survival—only the essential provisions. Unnecessary baggage is cumbersome. It weights you down, and slows you down. The unnecessary baggage is a burden.
The Apostle’s Creed is the expression of our Christian faith with no excess baggage.