Ah! Lint.
Bellybutton lint; pocket lint; dryer lint; lint filters; lint rollers; there’s even a “National Lint Project” – if you don’t believe me, you can check it out at http://www.studiocapezzuti.com/lint/lintguys.htm
I started thinking about lint this morning, on this first day of Lent, as I was tidying up my desk, doing a little spring cleaning as it were, removing some of the lint that had accumulated in little corners and crevices. And I wondered where lint comes from.
The internet is a wonderful and bizarre place, and with just a few clicks, I knew far more about lint than I truly ever wanted to know. Lint is mostly made up of fuzzy fibers – fibers that used to be part of some article of clothing or other fabric, and have jettisoned for some mysterious reason. Individually, a piece of lint is nothing to worry about, but collectively, lint can take on a life of its own (did you check out the “National Lint Project”?!). And lint attracts even more lint.
Lint makes clothes look shabby, assists in the production of dust bunnies, and sometimes start fires in the clothes dryer. It is a good idea to get rid of lint before it reaches that point.
You may think I am making WAY too big a deal out of lint. Well, I was thinking about Lent, and how the tiniest of things, over time, can start to accumulate in the corners and crevices of my spiritual life. After a while I hardly notice how messy the place has become – maybe a shabby prayer life here, the production of unkind thoughts there – and I am well on the way to something combustible! So, Lent is a time to really take a look, and tidy up; use the disciplines that help remove those stubborn little fibers that just want to hang around; do some spiritual spring cleaning. Read the Bible. Pray. Go to church. That’s a good start.
And just because I do some cleaning this year doesn’t mean I won’t ever have to clean again. I’m sure of it! And I know I will have to clean the exact same places – over and over again.
But then, that is what Lent is for.
Happy cleaning!
One Comment
Wow! I’ve never seen a connection between lint and Lent, but you tied them in really well.
Check out the Lenten challenge at amplifyhope.org Get Involved. We’d like this project during Lent “to take on a life of it’s own.”