"Do not keep anything in your home that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.," ~William Morris

Last week while we were on vacation we had painters come into our house. We arrived home, bags full of dirty laundry and fabulous photos, to freshly painted, empty walls. All of the knickknacks, photos, paintings, and artwork had been removed and stored to make way for the work of the painters. Now our work is to re-decorate the empty space.

I think we are like most people in that over time we have collected far more 'stuff' than we actually need. Through the 'I must have that' or the 'I need that' syndrome, many things have accumulated. Combine that with the gifts we have been given and you've got a pile of 'more than we need.' So our job over the next days is to survey the evidence and choose what will now go on the walls, on the shelves, on the mantle. It will take some sorting and soul searching. 

But as I look outside my window right now it seems as if Creation is doing similar work. The ratty brown grass is filled with dead leaves, debris, abandoned toys, plastic bottles, and other stuff left from winter living. Some cleaning away will need to be done by human hands, picking up, sorting, throwing. Other clean up will be done by the gift of rain and spring winds, washing away, blowing, sifting. Whatever the method, in the end we will be left with what is useful to grow the greenness of summer,and power to create the beauty of flowers, vegetables, new life.

This is the joy and blessing of spring cleaning. We get to once again choose what is useful, what is really needed to make our lives full and vibrant. We also get to choose what brings beauty, what lifts us above the ordinary or helps us see the ordinary for the awe-inspiring experience it truly is. And we have the opportunity to let go of the rest….to simplify.

So now the work begins. Look. Choose. Dig.Throw. Hang. Wash. Polish. Rake. Plant. All this so when summer comes around, we can sit back, relax, and relish the warmth of the sun.