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A Time for Renewal

As I write this we’re still in February, it hasn’t stopped raining since I returned from holiday, and it’s still very cold, grey, and dull. I’ve taken to buying myself bunches of supermarket flowers just to have some colour in my life – returning to this after Cuba was like going back to black and white TV after getting used to seeing every
thing in glorious technicolour!

However, there are signs of hope of better things to come. I have had snowdrops and hellebores in the garden for a while, and there are now buds on the early daffodils. As we head into March and the days get long er, we look forward to the start of Spring and having more colour in our lives. As we sweep away the last of the dead leaves and broken twigs from winter storms they are replaced with the fresh green of new budding
leaves and early blossom, and our spirits lift with these signs of renewal.

When I was a little girl living with my grandparents, this was also the time that my grandma’s thoughts turned to spring cleaning. Although she always kept a clean house, winter was hard. There were no tumble dryers or even radiators for drying laundry indoors and so washing was kept to necessary items – clothing, bedding etc. With the only heating source be ing coal fires, the smoke would permeate soft furnishings so, at the first sign of better weather, curtains would be taken down and rugs would be
hung over washing lines to have the dust beaten out of them. Ceilings
would be repainted as the smoke had blackened them, and wallpaper was often replaced too. Whilst we still keep the notion of spring cleaning, modern conveniences mean that we can complete most tasks year round, so the term doesn’t carry the common urgency that it used to.

I can’t help thinking that there’s a parallel here to our spiritual lives. Have we hunkered down and protected ourselves from the harshness in life so that we have found it difficult to maintain our usual habits and practices? Have we allowed relationships to wither? Do we need a spiritual spring clean where we make a determined effort to search out what needs refreshing and renewing, and to put in the work to make this happen?

 I’m not suggesting that we set about each other with carpet beaters, but maybe a time of reflection on where we personally could discard what has been holding us back, and what we could nurture to see spiritual growth would be a great ‘spring cleaning’ habit to   get into.
Love and God bless
Sue H