I believe we are garbage collectors. No, we don’t deposit in a dumpster or a landfill. We don’t even use a trash compactor. We hold on to it and let it multiply.
A friend who is a committed Christian says he needs guilt in order to get out of bed in the mornings. He says guilt is his biggest motivator. Another friend tells me she is attached to her sins and can’t imagine letting them go.
One of my sons as a little boy announced he wanted to become a garbage collector because that was something everyone needed. On a spiritual level that is what God is (among other things). A garbage collector. But He doesn’t steal our garbage from us. He waits for us to offer it up. He waits for us to want Him to collect and destroy it.
What would life be without our garbage? We can hardly imagine. A heavy burden lifted? a sense of freedom? A clean slate?
In the enormous space our garbage occupied will come laughter, peacefulness, creativity, and joy. And if we miss our guilt and anger and want it back, God will probably help us conjure it up.
Ann Glover O’Dell
20 September 2018
Ann Glover O'Dell 