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Dear TSJ Friends,
Have you ever really needed a restroom so badly that is all you can think about?
Now that is real focus.
When things pile up inside us it can also become a crisis.
For example, you may be in a concert – smack in the middle of the row – or you may be in a quiet museum on the top floor and the restroom is in the basement. Or how about in a traffic jam? You suddenly feel the “call of nature.” Oh no!
So brace yourself here, I am a country girl at heart. I grew up on a farm. And I can be pretty blunt or maybe even sound crude.
I have often heard a writer should write about what they know.
And I know about needing restrooms.
I know when my body is in a crisis. Don’t you? But who talks about that? (Except maybe with your doctor).
Sometimes we have to “go” too easily and frequently and others times things “back up” and we feel miserable. We hurt. We strain. We even cry. Situations like this are common when people go through surgeries and are filled with medications that affect ones’ digestive tract. And oh the joy when everything works!
More often, however, in public it feels like a crisis when my insides are about to explode. I need a restroom! And we all know the good feelings we get when we experience relief from the stuff our bodies have stored and seek to rid themselves of.
Solomon warned you last week that there are stories – that hopefully will lead to some hidden wisdom.
And I confess I could talk about bathroom stories all afternoon – almost. But I won’t.
To be fair, I think you should know that my four siblings and I heard a lot of farm talk (it was a large dairy and poultry farm),
We have shoveled a lot of animal poop (manure) and and know both how much it stinks and yet how important it is! My brothers drove the tractor dispensing of the animal wastes with the“Honey Wagon” in tow (as the manure spreader was called). Yes, we learned well that the waste of animals is the fertilizer of the fields that will feed them.
So that leads me to share with you some spiritual parallels.
I believe life on the farm, earthy as it was, highly influenced how I think about God, about Mother Nature and about life’s ups and downs.
What does this have to do with wanting to know where the restroom is? Animals don’t need to know about restrooms. True, but we do!
Remember to keep in mind a situation in which the only thing you wanted to know was, “Where is the restroom?”
When you found it do you remember walking away relieved, lighter, even happier?
When I travel, my biggest fear is not knowing where restrooms are! I cannot tell you how many times I have literally prayed for help finding a restroom and heard myself whisper, “Thank you, Lord …Thank you, .. Lord” – with a big sigh of relief and gratitude.
It is an experience of letting go. Letting go of all the stuff that is no longer useful to our bodies is a metaphor for our souls.
Yes, when you walk through that door you find physical relief and comfort. Once again you can go to your activities with a smile and enjoy your shopping, your concert, your trip across the desert in your car or sit in rush hour traffic and sing or listen to the radio. You can relax.
A good restroom experience can be a reason to celebrate!!
The “washroom” concept is equally good. As it is where you cleanse your hands so you can touch others without spreading unnecessary germs, You have let go of all what needed letting go and you have washed your hands and can happily join others again.
Similarly, when we let go and feel cleared of “stuff” that weighs us down and are washed in forgiveness we spread less negativity around us.
You can see, I learned from growing up on the farm things that are very earthy often have spiritual parallels. And that is frequently how God speaks to me.
Solomon reminded me to tell you that we have crises of accumulation of smelly stuff emotionally and spiritually too. We need to know “where to go” to get rid of it.
So what door should we look for every where we go? To restore inner harmony we must search earnestly for another kind of door – invisible to the naked eye but one that leads to ultimate comfort and restoration!
Jesus said, “I am the door.” He also said, “Come to Me all you who are weary and burdened.” Could it be – that with our inner eye – we could see a door called “God’s Restroom?”
From now on, when I anxiously seek a restroom I hope it reminds me to seek the Lord Himself as the Door that opens for us when we ask. Talking with our Shepherd leads to true relief and happiness.
When we feel like exploding with hurts, worries, heartaches, and anger and need relief, comfort and restoration, through prayer let’s earnestly look for “God’s RestRoom.”
This very morning I read in Luke’s gospel that the Lord said: “Ask and it will be given you; search, and you will find, knock and the door will be opened for you.”
I promise there is a parallel between our physical needs to let go of what is no longer good for us and our spiritual need to do the same.
What a relief!
Is that you coming out of God’s Restroom all smiles? I know the feeling!
With lightheartedness and sincerity Solomon encourages us all to keep looking for God’s Restroom everywhere we go.
Margie (and Solomon)
