Sitting on Trash

We have a cat who turns the normally distasteful task of sweeping into a downright difficult one. You see, she loves dust piles. She seems to be drawn to the sound of the broom brushing against the floor because she knows there's a dust pile somewhere. It's as if she's saying, "That's my dust! I love that dust! Thank you for putting it in a nice pile so it's easier for me to enjoy and protect!"

She doesn't chase or attack the broom as many cats would do. Instead, she sniffs and searches for that nice little pile of dust and trash I have collected. Once she has found the perfect spot, she plops down right in the middle of it!

But that is not even the biggest problem. The biggest problem is moving her once she has found her spot. Pushing her away with the broom doesn't work. She will sit there while I sweep over her. Or, if I try to push the broom against her, she will literally allow herself to be pushed along by the broom! Naturally, that just shoves the dust pile around under her and accomplishes nothing.

Then there's the water bottle, which is our normal disciplinary tool for the cat (and, let me tell you, this particular cat gets sprayed - a lot!). But, I can't really use it in this situation. If the spray of water mists beyond the cat, it gets into my dust pile. If she moves just at the last moment where the squirt misses her, then my dust pile gets it. And when cleaning floors, there's nothing worse than a wet dust pile! You can't sweep it, but you can't mop it either. It's a nasty mess!

If I pick her up and physically move her, she comes right back like a magnet!

Essentially, the only solution is to lock the cat away in another room before I start sweeping - and then to threaten anyone who dares let her out before I'm done with my chore!

It seems very ridiculous to me. Why be attracted to a pile of dust? Why indeed!

As I pondered on this while cleaning floors this week, I wondered how often I cling to piles of dust. You see, God is constantly doing a cleaning work in me. Some of the big messes I am happy to see Him remove. Not to delve into the disgusting, but it is more like seeing the cat litter emptied - our cats love the fresh cat litter and are happy to see me clean that mess!

But, are there other times when I try to sit on my dust? Are there things he is trying to remove from my life daily that I just cling to? Things that I hold as precious but that are really just dust?

That cat is pretty dumb, to be honest, but in some ways I am not much smarter. There is too much of this world that I still cling to - too much that God wants to sweep away that I plop down on top of and stubbornly say, "NO!" It is just dust. It has no true value. May I be more willing to move out of the way and truly let him get that dust out. May I truly crave the reality of what He sees as a clean heart!