Have You Cleaned Out Your Spiritual Refrigerator Recently?

“Clutter is not just the stuff on your floor-it’s anything that stands between you and the life you want to be living.”

Peter Walsh

Have you ever considered cleaning out your spiritual refrigerator?

Cleaning.  Yuck, right?  Recently I undertook the just laborious task of cleaning out our refrigerator.  Why do I refer to the task as laborious? Honestly, the refrigerator was neglected. Things piled up, the bento boxes with leftovers and good intentions sat there collecting stinky smells. That random carrot that fell out of the baby carrot bag was in the very back and wilted and gross. Those shelves where you thought someone had eaten your food that was bought “as a treat”  was under a pile of regrettably old vegetables that we had every intention of eating.  My first thought? I just wanted to close the fridge and hope for the best.  After a few moments of foot stomping and talking myself off the “I can just do this next week” cliff, the cleaning commenced.

Scrubbing and cleaning brought thoughts about life

While scrubbing I thought about life.  That is my new practice, what can I glean from a mundane/onerous task about life, the universe and everything?  A thought was born in my mind. How often do we clean our soul and spirit?  If it is like my fridge, that is one dirty and stinky place.  How often do we dwell on unkind words that were uttered to us?  How often do we dwell on words that we have uttered that we wish we could take back?  Take a moment and clear out hate.  Empty the rubbish bins of regret, Sweep out the dust and dank of everyday life.  Mop up the urge to be unkind, and let the floor shine with a beautiful sheen of kindness. In cleaning, you are taking care of your health. If it is important to clean physical things. How much more important is it to clean our soul, spirit and mind? I am reminded of the scripture that asks for God to create a clean heart in the writer. After that, he asked for a renewed spirit.

Much like physical rubbish. You need to cleanse your soul of rubbish as well

Finally, take all the bags of rubbish to the trash bin of anxiety, anger, angst and other bad feelings to the trash can and let the trash company take it off to the dumpster.  Will those feelings resurface?  Absolutely.  That is why we must clean our soul and spirit regularly. Neglect leads to a pile of old bento boxes of emotions and feelings that are growing mold. Open the door, take out prayer, mediation, forgiveness and relief that comes from a clean slate.  It will make a difference.  Now when we open the fridge, we don’t immediately want to slam the door and deal with it later.  Rather, we marvel at the organization that has come from taking a moment to clean.  Clean your soul, clean your spirit.  Cleaning is the reset button of life.

It is beneficial to confront the layers of dust and dirt

Marie Kondo once said: “Tidying is the act of confronting yourself.” Truer words have never been spoken. How many layers of dust are there? If there are multiple layers, do as much as you can. You have started the process and that is the key. Take a moment, open the door of your life and do what you can. When you are cleaning, it may not feel great. But trust me, you will feel healthier with time and dedication.