This was a week where the world looked dull and grey and the glass was always half empty. I reverted to ashes – and the words from a song we often use for Ash Wednesday rolled through my head without ceasing for an entire afternoon:
…we offer you attempts
the gifts not fully given, the dreams not fully dreamt
Give our wanderings direction
Give our visions wider view
An offering of ashes, an offering to You.
I may not have the words exactly right, but that’s how these things go: the last line rolls around, and finally is joined by the one before, and eventually the verse is reconstructed from the bottom up. And sometimes it’s not really the original words.
In that half-empty mindset I looked at my dresser which reflects my life. It’s awash in the remnants of not quite finished business. Needed supplies that got as far as the dresser, but the bag remains; a couple of tags removed from a shirt, but never thrown away; Earrings taken out that never made it back to the jewelry box. It reminds me that I have a lot of work to do with respect to letting go. I make the move in a new direction, but I really have trouble with leaving the past behind. Ever. There are memories to keep, I know. There are lessons learned that need to be remembered. But, how will I ever move if I’m still dragging the baggage.
Guess I’ll go clean off that dresser top. Got to start somewhere, and I don’t have the energy to think about the kitchen!
Great post. I’ve been going through some similar obstacles to letting go too. I graduated college a few years ago and am discerning my ultimate direction in life. A friend of said I need to stop accumulating theoretical knowledge and instead go out and physically do something with my life. It sounds silly because it’s a basic principle, but yes! getting rid of your personal baggage to follow the Lord is a wonderful and awesome point (:
Funny to get a comment on an old post… Fortunately, I begun to uncurl my fingers a bit more these days and let go. It helped when I went ahead and “retired” from my job. In that case, I truly walked out the door and really didn’t look back.
But that dresser — well, God and I are still fighting over it.
I see. That’s something I get too. I didn’t realize this was an old post. I googled the lyrics to “An offering of ashes.” How I found and came upon your post.
I’m glad you found it, even if you didn’t realize it was an oldie. I’m still using Ashes every Lent (I’m a parish musician).
And, with practice, letting go gets a bit easier — although I suspect it will never be easy. It is so easy to get attached to that baggage.