Hidden mess

A few days ago I had just finished giving my son his lunch.  He's now eating for himself and this usually results in an enormous mess.  But not this time.  Nothing on the floor.  Nothing left on his plate.  I was feeling pretty smug and congratulating myself on my parenting techniques.  But as I removed his full-sleeved bib, congealed scrambled egg suddenly just appeared.  He'd managed to hide it up his sleeves, in the front pocket, underneath the bib - I even found some tucked away behind him on his highchair seat.  I reckoned he'd squirrelled away 90% of his meal.

As I went to get a cloth I began thinking that he'd perfectly illustrated how we so often do life.  To a casual observer most of us look like we've got it together.  True some of us have more yoghurt stains on our clothes than others (it's the tell-tale sign of a mother with young children), but by-in-large we all manage to look like we're Doing Fine.  

But the problem is, although not many people can see it, our mess remains.  My quickness to snap at those I love most when I'm having a bad day.  My internal critique and judgment of others.  My failure to act in the face of another's suffering - even if that suffering is simply loneliness which could so easily be alleviated with a phone call.

I could have ignored the remnants of scrambled egg and encouraged my boy to run along and pay and not worry about it. But had I done so I would have been doing him an immense disservice.  He needed to get cleaned up so that he could be free to enjoy his afternoon.

We all have hidden mess.  And it's only by acknowledging the mess and getting it cleaned up that we can be free from the guilt and stink that Ignored Mess quickly becomes.  That's where Jesus comes in.  He's not fooled by our attempts to cover our failures.  He looks us in the eye and says, 'Little one, you're a mess.  But if you let me, I can clean you of this squalor so you can be rid of it and get on and live life to the full.'