it's beginning to smell a lot like christmas...
the following is from an email i received from a friend of ours in orlando. he has a ministry/therapy program and sends updates every week or so to let us all know what's going on. though i don't always agree theologically, i found this "baggage" analogy especially humorous.
***
When somebody hurts you, with words or actions, it is like they put a pile of nasty, stinky poop in your hands. It is not nice when anybody does that ....but sometimes it really surprises you and really hurts bad because you thought and believed that the person who just put the poop in your hands was somebody who was supposed to love you and give only good things to you.
But now you have this pile of poop. Thankfully it is just a little pile but it still feels nasty and dirty. Plus it smells bad and makes it hard to enjoy the aroma of the flowers or the sea breeze or chocolate chip cookies coming out of the oven. About the time you decide you can probably live with this one pile, the person adds another fresh pile...and then another. Soon it seems that the pile is so high that all you can see is brown yucky and the odor is so strong that everything now smells like poop. Slowly you start to think life isn't really worth living if you have to spend the rest of it carrying around this huge pile of poop. And you also start to think about how hurt and angry you are at the person who put all that poop in your life.....and you find yourself imagining ways to give some of it back to them so their life will be yucky and smelly, too, just like yours.
But then one day a very special man named Jesus begins to walk alongside you. He has a sad look in His eyes so you ask Him about it and He tells you that it makes Him sad to see one of His children carrying around poop. He seems really concerned so you go ahead and ask Him what He thinks you should do with it and He simply says, "Open your hands and drop it. Quit holding on to it. Then you can wash your hands and begin to hold things and smell things again." But you protest to Him. "Jesus, I need this poop. If I put it down I won't have it when I need it to smear all over the person that gave it to me in the first place." Again He has that sad look as He says to you, "Sweet child, don't you see? If all you think about is putting poop in that person's life then you have become just like them. Plus, while you are waiting for a moment that may never come, you have to carry that yucky, smelly stuff with you all the time. Please, be like Me, not like them. Put the poop down and walk with Me."
So you decide to listen to Jesus. You open your hands and the pile falls to the ground. Then, much to your surprise, He reaches over and takes your hands that are still kind of dirty and washes them for you.....and they have never looked so clean. He smiles and says to you, "Good job." Then as He takes your hand you hear Him say, "Let's go for a walk. There are some special things I would like you to hold and smell, things you missed along the way so far." And your life is filled with wonder....you had not realized how beautiful His world is.
***
When somebody hurts you, with words or actions, it is like they put a pile of nasty, stinky poop in your hands. It is not nice when anybody does that ....but sometimes it really surprises you and really hurts bad because you thought and believed that the person who just put the poop in your hands was somebody who was supposed to love you and give only good things to you.
But now you have this pile of poop. Thankfully it is just a little pile but it still feels nasty and dirty. Plus it smells bad and makes it hard to enjoy the aroma of the flowers or the sea breeze or chocolate chip cookies coming out of the oven. About the time you decide you can probably live with this one pile, the person adds another fresh pile...and then another. Soon it seems that the pile is so high that all you can see is brown yucky and the odor is so strong that everything now smells like poop. Slowly you start to think life isn't really worth living if you have to spend the rest of it carrying around this huge pile of poop. And you also start to think about how hurt and angry you are at the person who put all that poop in your life.....and you find yourself imagining ways to give some of it back to them so their life will be yucky and smelly, too, just like yours.
But then one day a very special man named Jesus begins to walk alongside you. He has a sad look in His eyes so you ask Him about it and He tells you that it makes Him sad to see one of His children carrying around poop. He seems really concerned so you go ahead and ask Him what He thinks you should do with it and He simply says, "Open your hands and drop it. Quit holding on to it. Then you can wash your hands and begin to hold things and smell things again." But you protest to Him. "Jesus, I need this poop. If I put it down I won't have it when I need it to smear all over the person that gave it to me in the first place." Again He has that sad look as He says to you, "Sweet child, don't you see? If all you think about is putting poop in that person's life then you have become just like them. Plus, while you are waiting for a moment that may never come, you have to carry that yucky, smelly stuff with you all the time. Please, be like Me, not like them. Put the poop down and walk with Me."
So you decide to listen to Jesus. You open your hands and the pile falls to the ground. Then, much to your surprise, He reaches over and takes your hands that are still kind of dirty and washes them for you.....and they have never looked so clean. He smiles and says to you, "Good job." Then as He takes your hand you hear Him say, "Let's go for a walk. There are some special things I would like you to hold and smell, things you missed along the way so far." And your life is filled with wonder....you had not realized how beautiful His world is.