Those were the words I heard without fail once a week while growing up in my mother’s home. For some reason, every week, one particular night seemed to sneak up on us. Suddenly I would hear, “Trash night!” A mad dash would ensue that consisted of rounding up all of the trash recepticals, making the “mass” dump into the large main can, trekking down the drive and then placing the bin on the curb. Once finished, we’d head back into the house only to repeat the same frantic routine the next week. That is, if we accomplished the task. When we didn’t, we missed our chance. The big trash can overflowed and we had to wait a full week to finally get rid of the smelly garbage.
Trash night may have been a hassle. But it was a task that had to be done.
I have to laugh. To this day, there is still a victorious feeling of sorts that comes over me every time I get the trash bins out in time to make the weekly pick up. Call me crazy, but for some reason, making that deadline just seems to produce this odd sense of accomplishment. Each week, I give a little cry that translates as, “Made it!”
It’s like that with a lot of things in life. Sometimes, the things that matter quite a bit, if not the most, simply have to get done. And if we forget, there is a price to pay.
We all strive for great things, but when you think about it, it’s checking off the mundane “to-dos”, on our list, time and time again, that actually get us to our final destination. I know of very few people who woke up one morning to sudden success without incredible amounts of effort that slowly, but surely, got them to that point.
I think that perhaps our culture of low-involvement but instant gratification has helped us to forget that all to true fact.
All that to say, if I approached my daily prayer time and bible reading with the same approach as my regimented trash night, imagine how much I could accomplish spiritually by the end of the week? It would be probably be quite noticeable. It surprises me how we Christians really struggle to carve time out in our schedules to take care of that needed part of our daily lives. I’ve decided that of late, my quiet time needs to get back into my routine. It’s been a bit iffy, and I need to remedy that. Perhaps you too will join me in this venture.
Maybe Trash Night can be that small reminder for the both of us. Who knows.
Just my thoughts.
S.
