Dirty Car

 

I spend a lot of time in my car.

Despite my best efforts to keep it clean,

The mess inside sometimes gets out of control.

This has been the case recently.

 

It started back in March when I went on a weekend retreat.

I took my keyboard, keyboard stand, guitar, and guitar stand,

And then I was too lazy to unload them when I returned home.

After a couple of days, knowing that I was going to need the instruments again in a month,

I decided to just leave them in the car,

This decision meant taking down the trashcan from the back of the passenger’s seat and

Not having access to the back passenger’s-side seat at all.

This reality meant cramming everything into the back driver’s-side seat

Or into the cracks of the cargo space.

And boy did I have it crammed with

Papers, hats, shoes, clothes, tins, bags, programs, a French horn, trash, and more.

 

Thankfully, after my April retreat,

A friend came to the house to help me unload.

She knew that I would be exhausted and not want to do it,

So she showed up and propelled me forward.

We unloaded all the big instruments and did a quick clean of accumulated trash,

But we left the little stuff—

Papers, hats, shoes, clothes, tins, bags, programs, and more.

We also returned the trash can and put up the backseat.

 

On Saturday, my parents rode with me to my nephew’s soccer game.

Before we left, I consolidated all the “stuff” into the back driver’s-side seat.

Little did I know that when we’d get to the game,

My brother would walk to the car to greet us,

It would begin to pour down rain,

And we would need to make a place for my brother to sit.

 

As he was throwing a field day change of clothes, my bookbag, a hat, a raincoat, a stuffed animal, a world map, and seven pages of French horn music to the cargo area,

My brother joked, “My goodness, Dee. Are you living out of your car?!”

I was slightly embarrassed because I knew the car was dirty,

And I hadn’t been prepared to take in a passenger.

 

I think this is how it is with our lives sometimes.

We get so busy and accustomed to living with our messiness  

That we aren’t prepared to offer help when someone outside us needs help.

…

 

May this week be the week that we clean out our cars

And hearts

And minds

And make the space for others

When they need us.

 

Amen.