What’s in your trash can?
Rev. Deborah Lewis, Director of Clergy Support
In movies, when someone is trying to write the next great novel or a long-
overdue apology note, they end up with a pile of wadded up papers in and around their
trash can. As the camera pans the room, we know immediately, this character has been
at it a while. These discarded papers are the false starts, bad ideas, and first drafts the
character went through before finding the right words. And there is helpful information
here: what the person is doing is important, and it takes time to find their way.
Could those rejected, wadded up pages be a faithful metaphor for the spiritual
life?
When I served on the Board of Ordained Ministry, we wanted to know how the
candidate was nourishing their spirituality and “staying in love with God” (Rueben Job,
paraphrasing Wesley’s General Rules). Often, I would ask about this with that trash can
in mind: What spiritual practice have you tried and it just did not work for you? Folks
who were nervous and had been cautiously answering the other questions would often
answer quickly and with more energy, readily telling me about how they just couldn’t get
into journaling or how silent prayer made them want to crawl out of their skin. Their
spiritual “trash cans” came into view, all those attempted and discarded practices piled
up on the way to finding what worked.
In this Easter season, we lean into the resurrection hope that what looks like
failure is never the end of the story held in God’s faithful, steadfast hands—and this
includes the ways we try and fail to grow closer to God. New life is rooted in rich soil,
fertilized with manure and decay. Nothing is wasted. So, it’s OK to leave behind what
hasn’t worked for you. Go ahead and pitch it in that trash can! Try again, try something
new. The life of a disciple of Christ is an open, ongoing invitation to the work of spiritual
formation. Where is the Spirit prodding you? What do you need to take your next step?
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