Spring Cleaning
Holly MillerShank
Original post date April 22, 2015
Spring Cleaning
Rev. Holly MillerShank
Call me odd if you’d like, but I like spring cleaning. I’m not much for the routine household maintenance of vacuuming or doing dishes, but once those daffodils start to break forth from the frozen ground, get me a dust rag and mop!
I’m not sure what primal instinct triggers my need to rearrange the china cupboard and check all of the expiration dates on the old salad dressings in the fridge, but really, top to bottom, room to room, there is something redemptive about spring cleaning.
At the Seder, Jewish families hide the Afikomen, a broken piece of Matzo, which the children find at the end of the meal. Similarly, in our Christian tradition, we hide Easter eggs for children to seek. In spring cleaning, I wish there was a prize for locating the biggest dust bunny, but for me, the true prize is the liberating feeling of getting rid of things that are no longer useful and taking care of the things that are to be treasured.
I wonder what our churches would look like if we did some serious spring cleaning? Yes, I’m sure some Sunday school drawers could be decluttered and the choir robes could use a good ironing. But aside from the physical upkeep, I wonder what it would look like to spring clean our missions and ministries. Are there committees whose shelf life have expired? Projects that were once started but stalled and are now taking up precious space in our common life? Jesus tells the disciples to shake the dust from their sandals (Matthew 10:14). Perhaps this is the season for us to shake off the dust from all of our “because we’ve always done it that way” routines, and to examine what can be discarded and what deserves to be cared for and treasured.
Read the full post at: http://www.ucc.org/stillspeaking_weekly_spring_cleaning