CLUTTER AND CLEANSING

 I glance around our neighbourhood at the assembled bicycles, dolls, toys, cupboards and all that has been cleaned out of our houses and into our driveways this Spring. Ah! We say, That feels better.

My clutter is in my mind, I come to realise.  There is too much clutter in my mind. It used to be so simple. There was a Right, and there was a Wrong. That is what I was taught as a child.  

It is right to tell the truth; it is Wrong to lie.

It is Right to do your homework and chores; it is Wrong not to get your work done.

It is Right to accept what parents say; it is Wrong to argue with them.

It is Right to be kind to siblings; it is Wrong to fight with them.

 This is very clean-cut.  Forget the lies and half-truths told in the home, and the fights themselves over Right and Wrong with siblings.  Forget the struggles to define who I am as opposed to who I am told I am.  It is Right to keep it clean cut and simple.

 What would I throw out in my Spring clean? I would throw away the clutter caused by the constant defining of Right from Wrong. It is far from a simple guide-line for life.

 I have such problems with the folks who must be Right.

It is Wrong to have views about God that are not orthodox.

It is Wrong to have views about people that make them less than angels.

It is Wrong to share sadness. Keep your chin up I hear people say. It is not too bad.

It is Wrong to stop going to the church that judges you.

It is wrong to accept gay marriage.

It is wrong to believe that global warming is destroying our planet.

The list goes on, from the trivial to the essential, from the narrowest to mind clutter that confuses me. I must wade through so much fear-based dogmatism, and deny so  much of the richness and complexity of this vast universe in which I am but a speck, to make my choice.

Yes, I choose to embrace all that is life-affirming and universally true. This Spring I am cleaning out the clutter caused by the need to be Right. Just BEING and ENQUIRING seems anything but Wrong to me.