Big spring cleaning
Is your spiritual home ready for spring?
Every week, we are blessed with the help of a wonderful woman who comes to tidy up our house for a few hours. Our domestic helper comes from Slovakia and has built a wonderful life here with her family. She is a real gem who works incredibly hard. We are very happy with her. As I watched her work, my thoughts went back to the past.
In the past
I thought about how things were at our house when I was a boy. It was a completely different world, the years just after the war. People cleaned their houses and streets in a different way. A phenomenon that really existed back then was the traditional Dutch spring cleaning. Everyone took part in it in the spring. It was a necessity, because the conditions in the houses back then were very different from those of today.
Nowadays, we all have central heating. When I was young, I had to go downstairs every day to fill the coal box with coal from the basement. We burned that coal in the stoves to keep warm. That created a lot of dirt in the house and the curtains were covered in soot in no time. That’s why everything had to be thoroughly cleaned in the spring.
Women ran the household
Our houses were also poorly insulated. That spring cleaning was very important because moisture and mold had free rein. It was quite an operation every year. You could see women getting to work all over the neighborhood. The men left for the office or the factory and the women ran the household.
People kept a close eye on each other in those days. There was social control, and the neighbors kept an eye on whether you had already started. By Easter, everything had to be out of the way and the whole house tidy. That only changed after the war with the arrival of the washing machine and the vacuum cleaner. I consciously experienced that transition. The washing machine and later the dryer made housework a lot easier.
Our spiritual home
However, it is not just about having a tidy house. It is much more important that your own spiritual home is in order. I believe that we should live in cleaner homes, by which I mean that our minds should not be polluted by the enormous amount of information and negativity from the world and the media.
Let’s use the metaphor of the house. A house has an attic, windows, a basement, and curtains. The attic represents all your ideas and everything that goes on in your mind. There may be obstacles there that you have been carrying around with you your whole life. Think of statements from teachers who said you would never amount to anything. Or parents who constantly compared you to a brother or sister who did better. These are thoughts that get stuck in the attic of your mind.
Then there are the windows. They need to be cleaned regularly to ensure a clear view of the outside world. When you clean the windows, you look at the world with gratitude instead of fear. You get a clear view of your life and the future. Make sure those windows are clean so you can see that there is a hopeful path ahead of you.
The basement
The basement in our lives is where things happen beneath the surface. It is often where unprocessed emotions or traumas are hidden. Perhaps you are carrying around a divorce, a serious loss, or the death of a parent. Resentment that you cannot let go of also accumulates there. It is necessary to do a major clean-up in that basement. Clear away the clutter that you keep running into, even if you have kept the basement door closed for a long time.
The curtains represent your digital hygiene and social boundaries. You need to be clear about where the boundaries lie. Draw a line and don’t let people walk all over you anymore. Set your boundaries in conversations where people belittle or insult you. Keep your heart pure and don’t allow accusations.
Inspection
Put the things in your life in order in peace. Make an inventory of what needs to change and what steps you need to take for a life with God in which peace and quiet are given space. The Bible says in Proverbs 4:23 that we must guard our hearts above all else. If your heart is polluted, the water of life tastes bitter. Therefore, cleanse your heart and the sources from which you drink.
We all need that big clean-up. With God’s help, remove the layers of dust. Close your ears and eyes to the evil that is spoken about you or that reaches you through the media. If you tune your heart to God, the dirt will stay away even after the clean-up. Keep your mind clear, and you will experience that the windows of your soul can be thrown wide open this spring. You are a new creation, cleansed by the blood of the Lord Jesus. By thoroughly renewing your way of thinking, as the apostle Paul says in Romans 12:2, there will be room for a different perspective. Learn to see more clearly what really matters. You will discover what God asks of you and which choices are right. In this way, you will find a lifestyle that is not only pure, but also fully in line with His purpose for your life.
@wimvanputten