Vernal Equinox

This is the day to throw open the windows and let the curtains flutter in the freshness of Spring, newly arrived and bursting with possibility! This is the day to catch yourself whistling absent-mindedly with cheerful abandon while stashing snow shovels in less conspicuous places. This is the day to cast off heavy gloom, the drapery of a physically and emotionally brutal winter, and pick up a lighter, brighter attitude.

This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it! Psalm 118: 24

Very much on purpose, I jumpstarted the season with an annual musical ritual: I listened—really listened—to a recording of Leonard Bernstein conducting the New York Philharmonic in a performance of Aaron Copeland’s Appalachian Spring. The ballet is a prominent selection on the soundtrack of my spiritual life, and hearing it becomes an inspiring, 24-minute-long prayer. Today, as always, it so touched my soul with beauty that I wept. Tears splashed on my cheeks as the lyrical melody evoked promise, gratitude, and joy.

Then I cleaned something.

I didn’t know that I would be establishing another spring ritual when I was at Walmart the other day and picked up a Swiffer duster with a telescoping handle. Earlier in the week I noticed some cobwebs dangling from the tall ceilings in our home’s stairwell, and the far-reaching Swiffer contraption was just the right tool to employ. Per the package instructions, I fluffed up the papery yellow “feathers” of the duster until they took on the appearance of an actual spring chick. I extended the arm and swept it along the joint where the wall meets the ceiling, and, presto!, the cobwebs were conquered. I continued, tracing the high line around the hallways, the living room, the dining room, and the kitchen, obliterating all the dirt strands I could see. I came back for a second round, this time sweeping across the tops of the milled woodwork and hitting the blind spots: the window frames and case openings and interior doors. I finished up by wiping away the overhead grime topside on the blades of the ceiling fan. In 20 minutes, the duster was black with all the dirt that had been escaping my awareness because it was unseen. It was a rather stunning revelation. But the thing that was even more remarkable was just how peculiarly satisfying it was to Swiffer it away!

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Psalm 51:10

It was also peculiarly satisfying to Swiffer away the obvious cobwebs clinging to my spirit while I worked my way around the house. It crossed my mind how long I had looked past some of the grungy threads dirtying my interior life—threads I left unattended because they didn’t seem to be in the way. They didn’t seem to be causing me any trouble. And yet, when I started wiping away at them, I discovered that the more apparent struggles were actually indicators pointing to other collections of gunk I couldn’t even see! The more I dusted around the framework of my spirit, the more debris I collected. My recognizable sins—thin strings of discouragement and cynicism—pointed me toward unseen hurts and resentments that needed to be cleaned away. So I dragged a spiritual Swiffer around my insides, confessing and repenting as I went. And in God’s goodness, God disposed of every last speck.

Spring stretches out before me, a pathway through beauty and forgiveness on the way to hopefulness. How have you welcomed the seasonal shift? If you haven’t yet embraced the equinox, let me recommend putting on the music that speaks to your spirit, and conducting a deep clean of your soul. You’ll be…

Refreshed,

Pastor Chris

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