Change of heart

“I have a full-length mirror at home. It tells me if I’m coordinated, if I’m all together, and if I think I’ll make a good impression. But a full-length mirror only tells us how we look on the outside. We need to take a full-length look inside to see if we are becoming the person God meant us to be. When was the last time you took a good long look at your heart?”

? SUSAN MILLER

“Remember when spring-cleaning used to be such a big deal,” a friend asked, “when people flipped mattresses, took rugs outside and beat the dirt out of them, thoroughly polished and scrubbed everything in sight? It was a time when everything was cleaned, inside out, top to bottom. Well, I feel like that’s what I need on the inside.

“Don’t get me wrong, I like things clean and all that, it’s just that I feel like I need a deep soul cleaning more than my house needs a deep spring cleaning. I don’t know if you know what I mean, and I really don’t know how to go about it, I just don’t feel quite right inside, like I’m not quite right with God, and I want to be.”

I smiled at my friend and hugged her. I told her that I understood exactly what she was saying. Then a mental image came to mind, and I laughed and explained: “Wouldn’t it be great if there was a place that wasn’t a car wash, but it was a heart-wash, somewhere, that we could go and say that we want the works, that we want everything there is to clean our heart and soul, and reprogram us to follow only the way God wants us to go? Then we could pay something, lie down, and come out changed for the better.”

My friend smiled, nodded and said, “That sounds great to me ? just tell me where to go and how much to pay. You’d have a winner for sure, a best-seller, something everyone wants.”

“Well, the thing is, we can do that ourselves, but it costs big-time,” I said. “It costs things like time, dedication, honesty and work. I know that when I make the time to stop and be quiet, pray and focus on God, I come away feeling better inside. I often get a sense not only of his love, but also of his guidance. I certainly don’t take the time as often as I wish I did, though.”

“I sure know that I don’t,” she said. “Heck, if I looked toward God throughout the day as often as I look in a mirror, I know that I’d be better off. I’ll have to try that, maybe just by trying to remember every time I look into the mirror to pray that God would dress my heart right, or something like that.”

I told her I liked her idea, and wanted to try it too. It reminded me of a song: “Create in me a clean heart, Oh God, and renew a right spirit within me.” I sang that song to myself on and off the other day and realized those words could become a frequent prayer for me. It certainly is easier to look in a mirror to see how the outside of me looks and what needs to be changed, but God is willing to help me look at the inside and help cleanse and renew my heart.

And you can quote me on that.