From the Pastor's Pen - April 2013

Pellentesque quam justo
April, 2013

Spring Arrives

It’s hard to believe, but Spring has officially arrived. And with the new signs of God’s wonder and creation springing forth around us, many of us begin to feel the urge to “spring clean.” This may mean packing winter clothes away, sweeping off the porch, dusting the living room, washing the curtains. It also means many of us start dreaming about being in the garden, or taking hikes, or going swimming.

This year as you spring clean, I would encourage you to clean out on the inside, too. Try to find ways to clear out the cobwebs in your mind and open yourself up to new experiences. On this topic, I’d like to share with you a story that is becoming a favorite at our church.

A young couple moves into a new neighborhood. The next morning while they are eating breakfast, the young woman sees her neighbor hanging the wash outside. “That laundry is not very clean,” she said. “She doesn’t know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap.” Her husband looked on, but remained silent. This went on almost daily.

Every time her neighbor would hang her wash to dry, the young woman would make the same negative comments.

About one month later, again while the couple was eating breakfast, the woman looked out the window ready to complain, but instead her mouth fell open and she was surprised to see nice clean wash on her neighbor’s line. Pleased, she said to her husband: “Look out the window, she has finally learned how to wash correctly. I wonder who taught her this? I wonder how this came about?”

The husband quietly said, “I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows.”

In all aspects of our lives, we are faced with situations that can be viewed from a variety of perspectives. So as you spring clean this year, don’t forget your windows. For what we see when watching others depends on the purity of the window through which we look.