GIFT OF GUILT, YOUR SYSTEM MAY BE CLOGGED

GIFT OF GUILT - Philip Yancey, in his book "Rumor's of Another World" shares this interesting story.  A pastor friend told me when he sits in his office and hears tearful confessions from people who have failed, he realizes at that moment they are closer to God than he is, the religious professional.  (a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.)

In childhood I thought of each of my sins as a brick filling in a space that walled me off from God.  My guilt feelings blinded me to the truth that I was busily constructing a wall God has already destroyed.  I now believe that God accompanies me at each stage of my struggle, present with me even as I flee from Him.  At the moment I am most aware of my own inadequacy, at that moment I am probably closest to God. 

Once a week or so my church schedules a Mom's Night Out, with free baby sitting for single mothers who need a night off - or mothers who simply want to spend an evening with their husbands.  Our pastor's wife once took advantage of this program to go out to dinner with her husband.  Later, when Peter, my pastor went to pick up his three year old son, the baby sitter told him about one of the games they had played.  She had asked each of the preschoolers "what was Mommy's favorite thing to do with them?."  "You know what your son answered?  He said that Mommy's favorite thing was to "clean me up."

In truth, said Peter, that isn't Susan's favorite thing to do with her son.  Cleaning him up is an excuse to hold him.  Absorbing the mess is just part of the process of getting close.  And it's the same with God.

YOUR SYSTEM MAY BE CLOGGED is a warning given in a 1933 pamphlet that I was reading today.  It's interesting how medicines were described.  In the Laxative section I found this headline:

"The Most Useful and Most Frequently Needed of all Medicines"

 

"When you feel dull, tired, feverish and headachy and lack appetite and vitality, you probably have eaten concentrated foods instead of fresh vegetables and fruits and your system may be clogged with poisonous food wastes.  Delayed bowel elimination soon impairs health, happiness and physical and mental efficiency. 

When the bowels are not promptly discharged the help of a reliable laxative should not be neglected.  Laxatives are the most useful and most frequently needed of all medicines.  They are most needed when winter diet is rich and concentrated and exercise reduced.  For better health keep the bowels open!"