Rev. Michelle Manuel

Center yourself on today’s reflection by lighting a candle and reciting this breath prayer:
Inhale – Listen, Lord, in your mercy
Exhale – not to our words but to our hearts.

Psalm 1:6-12
You desire truth in the inward being;
     therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
 7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
     wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
 8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
     let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.
 9 Hide your face from my sins,
     and blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
     and put a new and right spirit within me.
 11 Do not cast me away from your presence,
     and do not take your holy spirit from me.
 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
     and sustain in me a willing spirit.

Reflection:
He took it all out of the closet, put it into trash bags, and sat it by the door. My husband is good like that. Our to-donate pile had started taking on a life of its own in the back of the guestroom closet. Getting it bagged up and on its way was a welcome sight. Now just to load it up and drive to the donation center. (Driving to the donation center is key. Too often those bags get to take a 3-month joy ride around town with me until I remember they’re back there. Judge me if you must.)

So there the pile was, heaped up in all its glory, calling to me each time I passed by. Listen, a person can only look away so many times before making sure everything in the bags absolutely NEEDS to go! Dear reader, I know you’re with me on this. Well, it’s a good thing I gave it a thorough once over because there were definitely items that could still be put to good use—the out-of-style clutch I’ve had since high school, the headbands that will most likely come back in style soon, and let me say this: Just because a pair of shoes is worn does not mean they don’t have a few more miles on them. Our spring cleaning had taken a few steps forward and then a few steps back.

It wasn’t always so hard to clean out my closets. In fact, it used to be a hobby of mine. But life got wonderfully full—a partner, a child, a passion, and a meaningful and fulfilling vocation! Cleaning closets lost its spot on my calendar.

We’re right in the middle of Lent. If you’ve been journeying with us through the Daily Habit you’ve already embarked on a bit of spring cleaning yourself. Each week you’ve moved from conviction to confession to repentance and then receiving forgiveness. You’ll get to start that cycle tomorrow again! Lent is a gift like that. It gives us a dedicated season to sort through the closets of our hearts. Some people fast from certain things during Lent in order to make time, space, and conserve energy for such an undertaking. Cleaning out your heart’s closet can make it back onto the calendar.

Lent gives us an opportunity to do some spring cleaning alongside God. Without God, this is just another home organization show. Through prayer and reflection, we enter a practice that places us more in a position to work with God. There is baggage, clutter, ill-fitting garments, behaviors, and patterns we don’t need anymore. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can ask God to show us the closets that need some clearing out- even the closets we didn’t know we had locked shut long ago. God isn’t going to throw anything out unless you’re ready and you say the word. Loosening our grip is a key part of this healing and freeing process and because of God’s great love we are given the choice; heart-damaging clutter or the extravagant cleansing love of our Savior. 

We might sift through the bags and pull some stuff back out. It’s not ideal, but that’s okay because Jesus has made a way for us to be set free from that which weighs us down. The season of Lent is a gift, but Christ gives us the gift to get rid of sin every second of every day. Lent is the time we as a community commit to simplifying our wonderfully full lives. 

Lent is our season to ask God to help us bag this stuff up and get rid of it. We need not drive around with it in our trunk or even find someone else who needs it. No, God purges and cleanses us from the junk, from our sin. Cleaning out closets isn’t fun, but it feels so good to be freed up from the baggage. Maybe you’ve been doing just this all Lent long or maybe you’ve felt too overwhelmed or like you’ve missed the Lent train and it’s too late to start now. Don’t worry, the invitation to join Jesus in this venture is always open. It needn’t be a huge undertaking or something confined to a season. Just pray the prayer below and watch God work. After all, God’s the one who deals with sin, we’ve just got to open the door.

Prayer:
Jesus, I’m not too sure about cleaning out the closet of my heart. I’m not even certain what might be in there, but I welcome you into it. Help me to slow down and make space for reflection and prayer- help me make space to be with you. You are the only one who can create a clean heart in me and put a right spirit within me.