Inside Out
Inside Out
“Therefore
we do not lose heart.
Though
outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.”
2
Corinthians 4:16
I
didn’t really plan on making sequels to any of these essays, but when dishes
like this pile up over a weekend right next to the Holy Sync, well… I could not
resist. Before anyone calls child protective services on my precious children’s
behalf, let me explain.
No
we don’t have any problems with mice currently, cockroaches were a bigger
threat in New Orleans, San Diego, and Guam, and the spring ant migration is
under control around here too. Most of the dishes received a cursory rinse and
were set-aside in a “holding pattern” for my dearly beloved dishwasher. There
is minimal risk of mold or bacterial infection issues. I have a degree in biochemistry – I know my
microbes. On Friday night after family pizza and movie night,
I have a general Mommy’s-mental-health rule: I don’t do dishes. I did the dishes every other night of the
week, and regard one night off from non-emergency cooking and cleaning as a
proper sanity measure. No one else is working Friday night in my home either. I
do the puny, daily death-by-dishes martyrdom easily (now), and so one day away
is not really a big deal - I can take up that cross again pretty lightly
without feeling the need to pay anyone else off to take it for me these days. I’ve
been humbled by knowing of children who only have one dish for 2 children for
all eating needs. I am thankful for my dish “problem.” I would call this
particular build-up, which represents dishes undone from Friday afternoon until
Sunday morning (when cleanliness was resurrected after taking this picture), an
unusually large build up. It happens from time to time, but I wouldn’t say this
is typical.
The
reasons the dishes were not done on this Saturday in particular, were three-fold.
First, Saturday morning we had several neighbors over to our driveway to have a
small, fence contract signing breakfast party. We have about five families all
signed up to get our interlinked, twenty-year-old fences that have been wrecked
by recent windstorms repaired as a big neighborhood group. It was very good getting
to talk with and meet several of our neighbors, make forward progress on the
much needed fence repairs, and impress our contractor with our neighborly
cooperation. It was a beautiful “love thy neighbor” moment. Then, because the
weather was FANTASTIC, I preferred to take all my cravings for manual labor outside
and weed. Finally, we ate out Saturday night in honor of the kids good grades.
When I came home I employed the “horse-blinder technique” (also known as “see
no evil”) from the garage door to the stairs, thus avoiding the vision of guilt
that had been amassing on this counter over the day, and preserving the
decadent feeling of having just eaten out – which also generally comes with it a
mental tag that says “no dishes for me.”
Now,
yes, the children are old enough and eventually will be more involved in the
dish cleaning activities as I was as a child. In fact, from time to time, as
life allows, they graciously offer to help, or are very amenable to helping
when asked - since it is not yet a regular “chore.” Alternately, they had the
agony of cleaning their rooms this weekend and I heard wailing and gnashing of
teeth that I thought was only reserved for such places as purgatory.
Here
is my short meditation on those dishes. While we were outside most of the day
Saturday doing lovely wonderful things outside of our home, inside of our home
the crap was building up. Fortunately, that particular mess was all right next
to the Holy Sync-sink and so it got washed without great drama of built up
bitterness or resentment (or plagues of vermin or insects). Instead it became a
meditation and an insight. This is life. Outer work needs the balance of inner
work, and vice-versa. It's good
to keep the inner mess close to God, the Divine, the Holy Sync. Sometimes it is very necessary to care for
the inner, without worry for the outer. Sometimes it is necessary to focus on
the outer, knowing with healthy cleansing of the inner will need attention
later. Sometimes inner and outer activity balances well and both get done with
good discipline and measure. Eventually, in so many ways, the inside comes out
and the outside comes in. This is life.
I
pray we never lose heart, and find balance
with this life. That with a Holy Sync in God, even if outwardly parts of life
may be wasting away, inwardly may we always be renewed day by day. If inwardly,
parts of life may be wasting away, outwardly may we find renewal from
life-giving, for-giving friends, family, neighbors, rest, play, and work. Amen
