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| King of the snow cave (carved by a rivulet, between his feet) |
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| Wonderful, comfortable, hiking boots |
It's the boots that will be outgrown by next summer.
I was thinking today how with kids it's easy to know what no longer fits. Wrists hang out of sleeves, pant cuffs creep upward, the shoes are too tight, and it's obvious.
Somewhere into adulthood we we start accumulating clothes that used to be passed along to friends, relatives, or the local thrift store. Closets gradually begin to bulge, not so subtly demanding a sorting.
It isn't all that different with our thinking. As kids grow and learn, they discard outgrown thinking -- tooth fairies and monsters under the bed, and cute
but mispronounced words, like hangabur for hamburger.
As adults, we tend to cling to outgrown thinking -- petty or not-so-petty hurts, resentments, misunderstandings. Or, on the other side, remorse over opportunities lost or words spoken in haste. Our mental closets eventually bulge with these accumulated, and negative, emotions.
How to get rid of them? Happily, as we honor our relationship to our Creator, and everyone else's relationship to that same Creator, we realize that only what God gives us has any truth. And God gives us only good. We can accept and live goodness from God, and mentally discard what isn't worth keeping.
Second, as we ask God to use us for Her good purpose, we can cancel remorse with an apology where appropriate, a willingness to forgive others as we wish to be forgiven, and a commitment to do good under divine Love's direction.
Just as boots that are too small pinch our feet, so emotional memories that are too small pinch our spiritual growing. It is very natural to discard the old, as God shows us more of the beauty of our spiritual nature. These custom-made garments of spiritual qualities expressed, fit us perfectly.
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