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A Bad Day

             You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;  to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:22-24)

 

Yesterday was a bad day. I don’t know what it was, but I was in a major mental fog. I knew before I cut myself that I was going to cut myself (no stitches required) but I did it anyway. I knew what the crew was doing, but I could best be described as listless unless I was told to do something. People had to point out customers who weren’t in the “right” place, and when I left at the end of my four-hour shift, it was with someone else trying to solve a problem I either made or was involved in its making. When I got home, I was almost hoping they’d fire me. It’s not that I don’t like my job - it’s one of the best jobs I’ve had in my life, but I had convinced myself that I’d just done such a bad job that I’d deserve it. There’s no exaggeration involved here - and I’m not telling you this for sympathy - I’m setting up the rest of what I will tell you.

I stewed about things as I got a few things done. I prayed and asked for prayer. Then, after dinner, I decided to get to work on the garbage. The first thing to go out was the compost. But I only had a tree stump. It felt silly to put a garbage can out with one little tree stump - measuring 2” in diameter. So, I decided to pull the two old lavender plants out from beside the steps. They weren’t doing well; I’d already taken cuttings to plant elsewhere, and I have plants for the space. In the end, I had a little physical activity and three cans of compost. At least it feels respectable now.

Next, I decided I’d get the rest of the garbage out. I removed the bag from the kitchen and added it to the big black bag. Then, I grabbed several plastic bags where I’d stored soil over the winter. They were empty and shredded, and as I stuffed them in with the rest, it was as if the internal garbage associated with the day fell in, too.  

So often, we hold on to garbage in our lives. We hoard it and even wallow in it. Other times, it’s more like today, when the garbage is like sewer sludge or tar that just won’t let go. When Scripture tells us to put off our old self, it tells us to throw out garbage in our lives. Sometimes, it seems easy. More often, we don’t want to, or we don’t know how to. Praying and asking for prayers is a great place to start. But doing something that illustrates or imitates what you’re trying to do may also help. Change your clothes, putting off one garment and putting on another. Take out the garbage. Write the thing on a piece of paper and burn or tear it up. Be persistent about putting it off and discarding it. And when you’ve had a really bad day, the same putting off may help. It did me.

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