Travel Reflections

I have traveled across South Carolina several times during the past two weeks. As usual, this has been a rich time for conversation with traveling companions and for knitting prayer shawls. However, on Tuesday and Wednesday I traveled by myself to and from White Oak Retreat Center near Winnsboro. My mind seemed to be going in a thousand directions and it was hard to focus on one thought until I turned off the radio, the noise around me. It was then that I experienced a wonderful time of reflection about what I had seen in all my travels. I have seen lots of trash.

During these barren winter months, the clutter along the roadsides becomes obvious. How can people be so careless and irreverent? Don’t the perpetrators know that they are responsible for caring for God’s creation? Fast food refuse, plastic bags, aluminum cans and a variety of other items decorate the sides of our highways and byways. Haven’t the mothers of these offenders taught them to respect what has been so generously given them?

From this pilgrim’s perspective, this trash soon became a metaphor for the garbage in our lives. That is, the extraneous matter thrown indiscriminately along the way and cluttering the path for others. As we look toward Lent, we know that we need to rid ourselves of this trash and that it takes intentional effort on our part to do so. Although sometimes it is just easier to let the weeds cover the trash for some seasons of our lives, we soon learn that the trash doesn’t disappear until we carefully remove it. As painful as this can be, we look forward to Lent as a time to identify and carefully rid ourselves of the things that damage our lives and hurt others along the way. Then, we are able to behold the cross and claim the grace that has been given us through our crucified Lord. Christ’s life becomes our life!