Get rid of the old… I Corinthians 5:7 (NIV)
“I meant to do my work today…”
That’s the first line of a favorite poem by Richard Le Gallienne. Today I “meant to do my work,” specifically, to set up my account books for the new year. But I got distracted by a plastic wastebasket I walk past several times a day. It’s full of papers I’ve let pile up all year because I’ve been waiting for a spare minute to slip them through the shredder. I couldn’t seem to turn my full attention to my new-year accounts until I’d properly disposed of last year’s.
I rather mindlessly shredded the old accounts, until a twinge of anger welled up at the sight of an old work order. I had completed the job on time. Why had they waited three months before paying me? “Shred it,” a small voice urged.
As the machine slashed the paper and its print, my memory relinquished the experience. I picked up another paper—representing another grudge still intact, stashed away earlier in the year. A guest’s tactless comment. A friend’s neglectful slight. With each zwip of the blades, I let the Holy Spirit rip.
Tomorrow I’ll be ready to turn to my new-year work, now that I’ve shredded the contents of two wastebaskets, only one of them made of plastic.
Lord, before I tackle the projects of the new year, distract me with the task of shredding last year’s resentments.
