Sweeping
It never ends.The second I finish, it needs to be done. Again.
Dust. Playdough. Crumbs. Sugar. Flour. Cut paper. Sand. Dirt. Shredded cheese. It just doesn't end.
That's my day. I sweep before breakfast. I sweep after breakfast. Twice. I sweep mid-morning after playdough. I sweep before lunch...the boys tracked in mud. I sweep after lunch. And then in the afternoon, at least twice. After dinner. And before bed. And in case you're wondering why I sweep in the morning, after all what happens between the last sweep and the first, it's because I have the morning light and can see what I missed. That, by the way, is a great deal of sweeping.
And today, I found myself grumbling about sweeping. I couldn't believe I was having to sweep again. As I bent down to brush the crumbs into my dustpan I found myself profoundly grateful for sweeping. It was so strange....thankful for this task? And yet, I was.
the trusty dustpan
It hit me that our lives parallel sweeping. How many times do we need to brush ourselves off? To try again? Or, even deeper, to keep our focus right. Throughout my day it's easy to become sidetracked with thoughts of things to do, things left undone, needs, wants, and routine. The enormity of the everyday, at least mine sometimes, can overwhelm. In that overwhelmed state it leaves a residue...thoughts of discouragement, or decreased optimism, or failure...in it's place. And that's where sweeping needs to take place. Not just in the morning, or at lunch, or at night. But throughout the DAY.I know that when my floor at home starts to get messy I begin to get, well let's say, a bit anxiety ridden. (Hannah...keep your comments nice.) Well, it's the same way with our minds. When we allow clutter of this world to mar the truth of the Word then our thoughts have a more challenging time in discerning truth. Bits of the world's lies are obscuring the true picture. Here's the final catch...if we don't work to remove the falacies they'll build up. Just like the playdough, and mud, and food stuff that gathers on my kitchen floor. So we need to sweep...our minds.
I think analogies are fascinating. For me, analogies help me to discover deeper truth about life. I once blogged about puzzle pieces...and why I clung to old ones. Or why I put peanut butter on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich first. And in that post I linked that to habits that we let go unchallenged because they just seemed normal. I'm thinking I might repost some of those musings. And keep looking for more.
So the next time you sweep that kitchen floor of yours....pause....and think about what lies you need to throw away and truths you need to uncover.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about those things. Phillipians 4:8
