clean sweep

I always feel the need to clean house before I leave for a trip.
Partly because I need to be sure nothing I planned to pack got left behind. Partly so that I won't have to come home to a mess.


This being Sunday, I can't help but wondering if there isn't a sermon - or at the very least an allegory - in there somewhere. Perhaps it could be the basis for some modern-day parable about keeping our "house" clean in preparation for our impending departure from this life. The analogy falls a little flat, though, since I don't expect to return from that trip.

On the other hand, perhaps it has more to do with looking after what I'm packing. After all, we know the cliches.... "You can't take it with you." "He who dies with the most toys still dies." The bible teaches us to "store up our treasures in heaven;"  to invest ourselves in good deeds and acts of kindness. We are instructed to pour ourselves out in love to our fellow man - not to bury ourselves in piles of meaningless posessions.

Since this is a road trip, we are able to take as much stuff as we can fit in my very large car. Part of the planning has been trying to think ahead, to prepare as much as possible in advance and limit our expenses on the road. Surely there is some wisdom in this strategy. God does provide us with abundant tools for our earthly journey, too. Yet now, as we load up and get right down to it, I'm feeling a little envious of my former self. The girl who once actually lived out of a backpack is gone, replaced by a  lap-top-toting, cooler-carrying, coffee-craving diva - who actually packed (gasp) 3 extra pairs of shoes!

Okay, so I could argue for the usefulness of everything we're bringing.  But that's not the point. In the end, the most important thing we bring with us is a kind and loving attitude. Travelling with a friend... visiting friends and family along the way... that should not be difficult. Perhaps this journey will be one of renewal; reinvigorating our spirits after a challenging year, preparing us each to head into a new season.

That sounds like fun. More fun than cleaning the house!