Daily Lent Devotions from Church Street UMC
Monday, March 29, Morning
By John Eldridge, April 15, 2019
Spring Cleaning
Read John 15:1-4
One tradition my parents observed every year was spring cleaning. Although the labor fell mostly upon my mother’s shoulders, everything in the house got a cleaning sometime before Easter: every window was washed, every floor scrubbed, all the curtains went to the dry cleaners, all the silver was polished, every nook and cranny got a dusting, and every cobweb was removed.
Although the spring cleaning ritual mostly died out with the passing of my parents’ generation, we can still practice spring cleaning, albeit in a different way: spiritually. Spring cleaning is an apt analogy for Lent. For in Lent, we are called to take a good look at ourselves. What parts of ourselves need a good cleaning? Are there cobwebs that need to be removed? Are there stains on our soul that need to see the light of day and be addressed? Does the window to our hearts need some Windex so that love from our hearts can get through to our neighbors? Does our kindness barometer need polishing so we can better practice being kind? Is there anger and resentment that needs to be swept away? Does our attention to prayer need dusting off, so our communication with God can be better?
Yes, it is time for a spiritual spring cleaning, but as my mother used to say: “You can’t clean what you don’t see.” “Look,” she would say, “and you will see the dirt you missed.” Lent provides that time to look within and make ourselves the persons God calls us to be.
Prayer
Lord, give us the strength and courage to do a spiritual spring cleaning. Amen.
