All our Dirty Rags

Recently my friends and I found ourselves standing in front of a neglected shed, chock full of stuff.  The kind of stuff that no one knew what to do with; the kind of stuff that got stuffed.  To be dealt with...at a later, unidentified, date.

As part of the CityServe weekend of my church, where we cancel services and go out to 'be' the Church, these friends and I were in front of this shed, looking to serve it.  Our purpose was to clean it out, organize what could be kept, clean up and re-distribute what could be given away, and fashion new doors to close up the day.

We got down to business, 

(with only brief moments of distraction...)

and unloaded item after item.

We found some treasures,

some not so much...

We pulled it all out and placed it on the ground around us, and stood, looking.  Slightly overwhelmed.  

In the process, I couldn't help but notice:

Spiritual principles, all around.

Which was fitting, 

seeing as our serving constituted our preaching for the day.

For example, I couldn't help but think:

How often do we take the 'stuff' in our hearts and, unsure what to do with it, stuff it deep inside a dark and dirty shed?  Saved for a later, unspecified date, those items begin to mildew and mold.  They collect spider webs, spider nests, mouse poop.  The dirt gets dirtier.  Even the bees know not to stick around, building and abandoning the nests clinging to the sides of all of the boxes and bags and random items, jammed inside the darkness.  

Until one day, it's time.  And--overwhelming as it may be--when that time comes, you know it.  It's inevitable; you're standing in front of it, and it's waiting for you to make the first move.  

It's requiring of you: Deal, don't hide it, not anymore.  It's the only way.

And so, you get started.

The first thing to be done is to
box up and cart away the obvious trash.

Once that's dealt with, you can marvel at what you've found.

Items of value that have gotten lost for years may seem questionable (according to Kyra's face anyway...),

and may need some discussion to determine where they belong...

...but once decisions have been made, 

it's time to clean up what's left.

Now, the unloading may have near killed you, and the task of cleaning the remains might seem beyond what you are capable of.  

You might be tempted to just pitch it all, no questions asked.

It might be easier that way,
and easier might be all you think you want.

But then, from the pile congregating around your feet, something sticks its little nose out at you. It says, 'Hey, remember me?  I'm your history, and your history is unique to you.  It's all you've really got.  Take a chance on me, clean me up, keep me as a reminder.  Trust that even the stains are worth something.'

And so, you invest in good paper towels.
You start, bit by bit.
You begin to understand in a whole new way:

It will probably take a long time.  It will probably be disgusting.  It may very well cause you to shiver and cringe and possibly even desire to peel off all of your skin, just to get away from the nasty nasty of it.

But, at the end of the day, the rags are in the bag.  

And the bag goes in the dumpster.

Its rightful place.

With rejoicing.

There may still be times where you feel a little off-kilter, like all that stuff you cleaned up and saved is gonna go crashing to the ground, any second now.

But then, you can remember that you've learned some lessons along the way.  You can remember that with time and with love comes healing, comes strength.  Comes standing right side up.  Comes the realization that someone might make use of that stuff you stuffed out of sight.  Someone might need it, in fact, in order to really live, with abundance.

So, at the end of what may feel like forever, you give away what others can use, you put back in the shed the things that need to stay, and with the help of trusted companions, you make new doors to signify:

It's a new day.

You stand with all of the people who were there,

and you establish:

Now to Him who is able to do more than we could ever ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus, throughout all generations,

because all our dirty rags have found their rightful place.

Amen, and Amen.