one morning i came downstairs to plug in the coffeepot...my eyes were still half shut...my slippers shuffled along the floor...making swishing sounds...i was still trying to think where i was and why was i up at this hour...as i flipped on the lights in the kitchen...i was very much awakened to the moment by a smell that made me want to run for fresh air...
someone forgot to empty the trash last nite!! oh wait...i live alone...so i guess it must have been me! no one else to blame...now i had to do the dirty job and get that stinky garbage out the door quickly...yuck yuck yuck...i took out the sack and spent the next fifteen minutes wiping the kitchen down with cleanser and spraying room deodorizer...
later that week i was talking to...or rather listening to...a friend air her troubles...she was railing about her daughter...who wears her skirts too short and doesn't ever stay at home...she was lashing out about her husband...who was working late more and more...she was worried sick about her mother...who didn't have enough to do and was wasting her life away playing bridge every day...she was mad at the president and the lcoal mayor...and on she went...
i was listening and responding occasionally with polite "uh-huhs." then it dawned on me like a light bulb: this friend had not carried her garbage out! what's more...i think she had failed to carry it out for a long time...and...even worse..."friend" was carrying her big...stinky...garbage bag along with her...i could smell it and hear it...
the vision of nameless "friend" standing there with three or four sacks of garbage slung over her shoulders brought a smile to my face...but "friend" didn't notice because she was well into a list of health problems she was naming...no wonder a bad back was among the list...carrying that much rotting garbage certainly does put a strain on the back...
even if something stupendous happened right before her eyes..."friend" would miss the whold miracle because she was totally preoccupied with the big sacks of her own emotional trash...
a spiritual life threatened by too much personal garbage...not only storing up garbage from days and years past...but working at stealing garbage from tomorrow...
what fills those spiritual hefty bags? persistent anxiety, nagging worries, deeply rooted grudges, jealousy, regrets, missed opportunities, disappointed dreams, nursed grievances, resentments, hostility...just to name a few =) no wonder it smells so bad...that adds up to a lot of trash...for heaven's sake...take your garbage out!
think about the exact pieces of garbage in your bag...maybe a grudge that has been hanging around for a few years...maybe some pent-up anger at someone...write all your garbage down on slips of paper...put them in a garbage bag and take it out...if you need to...write letters or make phone calls to set things straight between you and whomever or whatever needs forgiving, forgetting, or loving...
expert garbage collectors completely miss life's daily miracles...the presence of God's love...and creative moments with the Spirit...any ultimate hope or significant vision of the kingdom is always sustained by the meaning we find in being fully alive each day...the greatest price that spiritual garbage collectors pay is the loss of the magic of the present moment...the possibilities in today...
abandon the vendetta...forsake the rage and pity...whether it is directed at yourself or others...don't let chronic misery and gloom rob you of the goodness of today...
lay the garbage bags down...trash is heavy and it really smells bad...enter the present moment and put yourself on alert to the awakenings of the Spirit in the ordinary events of the day...life will come alive in a way you never thought possible...
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