Spring cleaning of the heart

17Apr
Create in me a clean heart, O God, 
and renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from your presence 
and take not your holy Spirit from me.

Give me the joy of your saving help again 
and sustain me with your bountiful Spirit.
-Psalm 51: 10-12

Some of us are probably doing Spring cleaning: that time-honored tradition where we intentionally bring out those things we tucked away to decide if they are still useful to us. We might even be doing the great purge of 2024 that results in an empty house and that our friends and family will remember for years to come. The Christmas ornaments that haven’t been on the tree for decades, the baking soda that expired in 2020, the random cup full of pens that may or may not work. This is tedious, dirty work. It brings back memories that are both positive and negative and forces us to decide what we value (and don’t) and what is useful (and obsolete) to us now. We are doing this work in an attempt to make our homes “clean,” to create a space where we can focus and function better.

What happens when we apply this same idea to our heart - where all of our joys, our sorrows, our loves, and our losses reside? What happens when we reassess what we hold there and how it affects our lives? This Spring cleaning feels much riskier, more difficult, and potentially more painful. It involves feelings and relationships we’ve safely stored in our proverbial attic.

The reading from Psalms asks us to do just that. It does, however, focus more on our general relationship with sin and less on our relationships with the people in our lives, but I think we could all agree that we let our earthly alliances interfere with our Divine connections. What if we were able to start again with a blank slate? What if we could cast off the offenses that plague our memories and instead see a “truth deep within” that is compassionate, loving, and joyous?
Geoffrey Philabaum, Meditation


Musical Reflection - Create in Me a Clean Heart - Acapella

Dear Lord, thank you for springtime and the beauty of Your creation. In this time, help me clean my heart. Give me the gloves, the dust mask, and the antiseptic spray for all the dirty things I might face in this process and the ability to appreciate all the beautiful and loving things that already live there. Help me prioritize my relationships - past and present - to put Your love and kindness first. Amen.

PsalmsJoyEaster

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