Redeem Everything
100 or so years old. Creaky and crooked, my house is far from shiny and new. This sweet old dear has heard and seen a century of change, love, fear...has heard babies cry and lovers quarrel and kitchen walls crumble for more space. There was a family before us that split into two through divorce and screaming matches in the snow, so says the neighborhood gossip. In every way possible, we always need redemption here. Some say "updates"...but I like redemption. It's more full. To the core. The spirituality of house maintenance is always in bloom here at 615 S. Main. I just swept out and rearranged and cleared out my garage....and looked at the cracks and holes and birds nests in our detached 75 or so year old car storing shed. Everything in my soul screams - I WANT NEW. But it is quieted quickly by - REDEEM WHAT YOU HAVE.
Redeem what you have. Redeem everything that you are able to. Everything that is in your power. Right now, I do not have a nice new basement or a pretty sidewalk or a third floor...or really a lot that lends itself to our growing boy (50 pounds yesterday!) and his growing friends and the spaces I can see as ideal to grow up in around here. Things crumble. The floor creaks. The closets are small. The basement can be wet as the seasons seep inside.
But as I gardened around the cracks of my garage, as I swept out old leaves from last Autumn, as I cleaned a bowed baseboard in the living room......I felt a whisper.... to take what I have and make it the best it can be. Redeem what is near me. What is around me. What is mine right now.
Redeem that relationship, whatever is in your power (warning: own only what is yours....don't climb fences and start to garden next door unless called to). Redeem that creaky door (these hands adore WD-40). Redeem your body that has been stretched or pulled or abused or mistreated as best as you can today. And work with today. Redeem today. Break it down.
Redeem: buy it back. Make it new. Don't throw it out or seek out brand new - there is much more life in that sock (remember the idea of darning? google it), more life in that broken chair (find that hammer and nail) and life in that heart of yours (I know it feels unrepairable...but I assure, it is not)
Today: don't go crazy about this Autumn coming. Or what your winter will hold. You have today, and that's it. Choose redemption today.
May you find yourself redeeming old rugs, chipping paint, spaces and places and friends that you want to move away from and start over. You are here. Redeem everything until you or it is called elsewhere.