Friday - Day 3 after Ash Wednesday

 “Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me.”  (Psalm 51:10)  

  Sometimes it seems like everything in my life is dirty. My car is always dirty, my shoes constantly need brushing off (I gave up on polishing years ago), my laundry is never caught up, there’s always some type of cobweb-condominium being built in the corners of my home office, the screens to my computers are inches deep in dust. Get the point? The marvelous thing is that when any of the above actually gets cleaned…I have a whole new perspective. Such as, I keep thinking how I need a new car, until I wash mine…then, WOW! What a nice looking car! I think I’ll keep it! Same with the laundry. I’m always out of socks or my favorite thrift shop logo t-shirts and head out to buy more, but then I’ll do a load of wash. Woo-hoo! There’s that raggedy old Harley 1998 New Mexico race shirt I love so dearly.

   My heart gets dirty much the same way….by not taking care of it, protecting it and keeping it as clean as I should. Remember all the noise and confusion I mentioned yesterday? Well, not keeping a quiet time creates a small smudge on my heart. Then, perhaps I read a book that isn’t the most appropriate. Smudge. Watch a questionable television show or movie. Smudge. Smudge. Laugh at a joke that isn’t what I should hear, but I want to be ‘accepted.’ Smudge. Maybe (on occasion) a word slips out in anger, frustration, or pain (like when my pinkie toe hits the end table in the middle of the night). Smudge. Smudge. Smudge. Before very long, my heart isn’t very clean and God can’t be seen very clearly. And I don’t feel so great. Not so ‘set apart.’ Not so holy. Not so ‘light on a hill.’ Like God don’t really care so much about me. 

   I falter a lot. Sometimes I’m strong, but often I’m not. I’m human. As are you. We all stumble, feel guilty and have to ask God to forgive us. Over and over and over. And He does! The strength to stand up to the temptations of daily living is what I’m seeking during this Lenten journey. By remembering that God is Love. God loves me. Without question. 

  What do you need to do so that your heart stays clean? And for today my friends, this has been the gospel according to Jimmy.