Sacred Mundane: The Blog

I was slipping on my shoes Saturday morning when Jeff made the simple suggestion:

“Why don’t you bring a bag with you?”

Ah. A bag. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before. I guess because I never actually set out to pick up trash. I just set out to walk, I never think of the trash thing until I’m out and there it is and then I’m looking for the nearest garbage can.

A bag. What a great idea! I could easily take along an old plastic grocery bag. He pulled one out from beneath the sink and I headed out to my route.

Now, forgive the very basic observations, but it was interesting how having a bag completely changed my perspective on trash. See, although I’m happy to stoop and pick it up, it does cause a slight irritation. First, I have to hold it in my bare hand. Yuck. Then I have to search for the nearest available trash can. Then I have to sneak said item into the trash. All of this, done over and over and over, can become fairly irritating.

I’m not sure why it had never occurred to me to prepare in advance for these interruptions. But I’ve been studying through the gospels, looking at how Jesus’ ministry was largely in response to interruption. When a problem, need, or question arose, He was ready to stop, stoop, and help. He was prepared. This enabled him to enter into each need without irritation.

Having a bag completely changed my perspective on trash. When I went out empty-handed, each piece of garbage felt like an inconvenience. I would try not to look too hard for more trash, because my hands were already full.

Now, with a bright-yellow Grocery Outlet bag in my hand, I looked a little odd but I found myself eager to find trash, because I was prepared. It was easy. I had plenty of space for each item, and did’t even have to carry them in my bare hands!

In the gospels, first Jesus sends out disciples with nothing — no staff, no bag, no bread, no extra tunic, nothing. Later, Jesus sends out the gospels with extra supplies — a purse, a bag, even a sword (!). It seems to me that Jesus is teaching them two things: Faith & Preparation.

First, He teaches them faith. By taking nothing, they have to trust. Jesus is their provider. But second, He teaches them preparation. Though they know that Jesus provides, they are also responsible for doing their part to be prepared.

I order to respond well to the world’s needs with faith and preparation.

See, Optimism says, “There won’t be any trash! I’m sure the streets will be spotless!” Ha. We know how true that is.

Pessimism and Cynicism say, “There will be way too much trash for us to ever handle. Besides, if we pick it up there will just be more tomorrow. There’s no point in even trying.”

But Faith says, “There will be trash, it’s true. And it’s true, there will be more tomorrow. But I’ll take my bag and trust that I can handle however much trash God calls me to pick up.” 

This is also true of life, right? Optimism says, “There won’t be any problems!”

Pessimism and Cynicism say, “There will be way too many problems! Forget even trying!”

Faith says, “Yes, there will be troubles, but I’ll bring a bag along and God will equip me to handle whatever comes my way.” 

So yes, a bright yellow Grocery Outlet bag reminded me to enter life with eyes-wide-open, fully prepared by faith, to pick up whatever problems come our way.

The next time you go for a walk, consider taking a bag. 🙂

{Thanks for reading.}

I recently retired my leg warmers. Yes, no more leotards and side-ponytails, I’ve officially ended my days with Jazzercise. 😉 Of course I’m kidding about the 80s apparel, but I did transition into different exercise options since we’re moving to the country, and recently I’ve just been taking walks and calling it good.

Some of you know about my unfortunate trash conviction. I’ve shared about it here. It began six years ago, when the Holy Spirit told me to pick up poop off the ground and I routinely avoided it until He taught me clearly that Grace Picks Up the Poop.

You can’t unlearn a lesson like that, so I still find myself gathering up trash whenever I’m out walking. I’ve memorized the various drop-points along my regular route, those places where people are negligent in bringing their emptied trash bins back in from the street, providing me the perfect opportunity to unload my handfuls of garbage without walking onto their property.

Every single time I walk there’s trash. I understand the logic that says, “What difference does it make? There will always be trash.” But the starfish story applies to more than just souls, and our mundane is where we practice making a difference in bigger ways.

If I’m willing to stoop for a smashed soda can I’ll probably be willing to stoop for a soul.[bctt tweet=”If I’m willing to stoop for a smashed soda can I’ll probably be willing to stoop for a soul.”]

So I do. And since I always take the same route, I’ve thought about the significance of taking ownership for our spheres of influence, or more simply put: Being purposeful about what wake we leave behind.

When I graduated from high school, my pastor’s wife (one of the wisest women I’ve ever met) looked me in the eye and said these words with great seriousness:

“You follow hard after Jesus and others will be caught up in your wake.”

I’ve thought of these words hundreds of times since and wondered to myself: What is my wake?

That is, everywhere you go, you leave a wake. Do you leave a wake of drama? Do you leave a wake of peace?

The question I ask myself is: Do I always leave a space better than when I found it? 

We can ask this question on so many different levels. It’s true of physical spaces and spiritual spaces, it’s true of relationships and jobs. I ask it every time I go for a walk, and seek to make “my route” cleaner that it was before I moved through its space.

Well, today was a bit different. It was drizzling, so I did my normal route but beelined for the track where I figured I could run stairs (under cover) for a little higher-intensity workout. When I stepped up into the stadium, I sighed:

Trash everywhere. Seriously people, really?! Dozens of bottles, soda cans, wrappers, paper plates. So. Much. Trash. I reasoned that this wasn’t “my route”–so I could just ignore it this one time and run my stairs. But the question came back to me: What is my wake? If I move through this space, can I leave it better than I found it?

I pushed up my sleeves.

Still running stairs, I started grabbing up items. Up and down the stairs, through the aisles, working up a sweat, I found myself having loads of fun, even if I probably looked like a crazy lady, doing high-knees with armfuls of garbage.

Eleven minutes later I had a fabulous workout and there was not a speck of trash in that stadium.

I smiled over that trash bin, thinking how simple things can bring us joy, how the mundane draws us to Jesus, how even garbage can display the glory of God.

So for you today: What is your wake?

Let’s commit today to leave every space better than we found it–physically and spiritually–for the glory of God.

{Thanks for reading!}