I took the trash out after lunch today. That, in and of itself, is nothing unusual, expect that chore is usually relegated to Friday afternoons. However the banana peeling from my mid-morning snack attack and the packet my lunch salmon filet was in made for a smelly combination whose only redeeming quality might be as supplemental pest control.

On the way back down the hall to the stairs leading to our offices, I did something I have not done since we relocated to the church in March. I went into the sanctuary to pray. It wasn’t my idea. I was drawn in. I know that God doesn’t live in a house of worship, but today God’s presence was palpable.

Yes, there was a lot on my mind; a lot that needed prayer attention. So I poured my heart out to my listening God. And then I listened. I sensed God wrapping God’s self around me as the peace I had been seeking came.

Inside the sanctuary all was quiet. As I kept listening (to and for God, not intentionally for outside noises) I heard the big green trash truck making its weekly rounds. What a surprise was in store for me!

As I almost unconciously visualized the truck picking up the trash receptacle and emptying it of its contents I realized I was just like that container! I had allowed myself to become distracted from God, largely through neglect of prayer, and thus my life had filled with things better thrown away. And the more I had added to the “trash” the bigger the pile had grown and the more offensive the strong smell had become. Yes, and there were those pesky flies too!

So prayerfully I visualized God emptying me of all that was inside that didn’t need to be there. As it tumbled out I named the things I could recognize. I asked for forgiveness and cleansing. I asked for God to fill me.

I was left with a clean container! I realize I will inevitably start to fill it up again because I am human and that just happens. But I am reminded anew that I can (and need to) intentionally come to God to be emptied.

When I, you, we are filled with God’s spirit we are anything but empty! We are alive to God and all God can do in and through us.