Day 6: slinkys are a pain to deal with

 

I was cleaning the house and picked up this slinky for the millionth time.  As I held it in my hand,  I pondered whether I should put it away or throw it away.  It is bent and twisted as slinkys inevitably become.  I have faithfully untangled and straightened this particular slinky for months.  

I continued to clean and found a string of mardi gras beads.  I picked them up along with a plastic cup,  a couple of legos and a banana peel. I threw the cup in the sink,  the legos in the drawer and then had to decide what to do with the slinky and the beads. 

In the few moments I had held them in my hand and walked around the house, they had knotted themselves in an inexplicable jumble.  

"How in the world?... "

I plopped on the couch and methodically,  patiently,  slowly untangled them.  It was completely unfathomable how much they had gotten tangled up.  I smiled.  Sometimes,  it's  ridiculous how much I get tangled up on myself. 

There is a marvelous,  satisfying beauty to a slinky propelling itself down a set of stairs.  But honestly,  how often do kids play with slinky this way.  In my house, they are wrapped around chairs and used to pull wagons or worn as some sort of magical amulet around the bicep.  And they tangle within seconds.  

I start my day full of possibly.  A perfectly stacked slinky as I climb out of bed. But mere moments into the morning I find myself knotted up over myself and I have to sit down and patiently sit and sit sort myself out..

I wonder if God tires of my endless piles of tangle?

I'm a master of untangling slinkys. Slowly,  curve by curve,  I trace the edge until it is a smooth even pile. 

The same way God methodically untangles my heart,  tracing my edges with gentle hands. Reordering all my thoughts and jumbled emotions into a smooth pile.  I feel better and the moment I head out is only a matter of minutes that I begin to tangle myself up again.

I think that is human nature,  like slinkys,  we tangle easily. And spiritual practices, prayer,  scripture,  worship,  meditation, silence and the like are tools that God has given us to help untangle ourselves.  Sometimes,  we set up right in the morning and we can make it through a day without too much problem,  but other days,  we tangle and we tangle and we tangle and we have to turn again and again to these practices to undo those knots. And sometimes,  we get so tangled up,  it feels like there is no way we'll ever get smoothed out again. And yet,  with enough time and patience and openness,  God can work through all the wild knots of our hearts and set us down in one smooth satisfying pile.